VIJAYAWADA: Former minister and TDP leader Devineni Umamaheswara Rao strongly objected to the YSRC government’s plan to reduce the height of Polavaram dam from 45.72 metres to 41.15 metres in utter disregard for the long-standing water needs of all the five crore people of Andhra Pradesh.
He demanded that the government retain the dam height at 150 ft as per the previous design so that it would be possible for storing 194 TMC water. A higher dam will also help in the grand plan to interlink various rivers in the State in order to augment both irrigation and drinking water to every nook and corner of the State from North Andhra to Rayalaseema, he said.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, he said reduction of dam height was proposed with the ulterior motive to decrease the burden of compensation package to the project evacuees from Rs 27,000 crore to Rs 3,500 crore. If this happens, it would cause permanent harm to the water rights of AP people for the generations to come, he said.