POLAVARAM (ELURU DISTRICT): The Polavaram project is a case study on how wilful and ignorant decisions can adversely impact the larger interests of the State, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said following his field visit to the irrigation project site on Monday. This is Naidu’s first visit to the Polavaram project after becoming Chief Minister.
Expressing dismay over the devastation caused to the Polavaram project, Naidu said given the extent of damage, it is uncertain as to how much time and money would have to be spent to complete the project.
Deeming former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy unfit of being in politics, the 74-year-old said, “It is saddening to see so much effort and so much of taxpayers money wasted just because of an ignorant and willful decision taken by the previous government.”
The previous YSRC regime went ahead with changing executing agencies even after being advised against such a move by the Central Water Commission and Ministry of Jal Shakti, he pointed out.
“Had the earlier executing agencies been continued, the project would have been completed by 2020. These agencies could have also been held responsible for any lapses that might have emerged,” Naidu said. He remarked that changing agencies and transferring experienced officials during the execution of crucial works pertaining to the upper cofferdam created a gap in the project, which proved fatal during the floods in 2019 and 2020.
“The gap in the upper cofferdam was to be filled before the flood season. However, due to change in agencies and officials, no work was done. In the subsequent floods, about 35% of the diaphragm wall was badly damaged at four different places. Even stability of the upper cofferdam is doubtful given the leakages observed,” he added.
Project crucial for interlinking rivers to make AP drought-free: Naidu
Stating that experts are trying to figure out how to address the issue of the D-Wall, the Chief Minister explained, “There is a proposal for constructing parallel D-Walls for the damaged portion. But, there is no guarantee that the rest of the structure will be intact. Cost of such repair work is expected to be Rs. 448 crore. It should be noted that the entire D-Wall was constructed with almost the same amount. In case, an entirely new D-Wall is build parallel to the damaged one, its cost is estimated to be around Rs.990 crore.”
Clarifying that his visit to the Polavaram Project was only to take a preliminary stock of the situation, Naidu said he is not going into the nitty-gritty or technicalities of the project.
As Chief Minister from 2014 to 2019, Naidu had visited the Polavaram project site 30 times and held hundreds of reviews. Wondering how such destruction could be caused to a national project, which is termed as the lifeline of the State, he observed, “The project is vital for providing irrigation water to lakhs of acres in Godavari and Krishna deltas as well as North Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. Additionally, the project is crucial for the proposed project of interlinking rivers to make Andhra Pradesh drought-free.” Slamming the Jagan government for making a mess of the Polavaram project, he said it will take serious effort to set things right.
Further, he recalled that he had ensured seven submerged mandals were merged with Andhra Pradesh after State bifurcation by bringing an ordinance. He averred that his efforts had paved way for construction of the project and on an average his government had spent Rs.13,623 crore every year on the irrigation project.
“On the other hand, what little money the Jagan government spent on the project was for giving advances to his contractors,” Chandrababu Naidu claimed.
The Chief Minister inspected the project works at the spillway, earth-cum-rock fill dam, upper cofferdam, D-Wall, lower cofferdam and the hydro power project.
Later, he held a review meeting with officials of the project and the water resources department to take stock of the status of the project.
Officials made a power-point presentation on the project status.
According to sources, the Chief Minister was not happy with answers from the project officials, when he sought to know the extent of damage, reasons, and estimated increase in cost of the project.
Naidu stressed that the quantum of damage, in terms of physical, monetary and development needs to be assessed.
Ministers Nimmala Ramanaidu (Water Resources), K Parthasarathi (I&PR), Kandula Durgesh (Tourism), principal secretary (Irrigation) Sasibhushan Kumar, EnC Narayana Reddy, former EnC Venkateswara Rao, MEIL engineers and others accorded a warm welcome to Chief Minister Naidu when he arrived at the Polavaram project site on Monday afternoon.
Assembly session likely from June 24
A 3-day session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly is likely to commence on June 24. Sources said TDP leader Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary is likely to be the pro-tem Assembly Speaker