VIJAYAWADA: Water Resources Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu criticised the previous YSRCP government for dedicating the Veligonda project to the nation without completing critical work.
He stated that an additional Rs 4,000 crore is needed to finish the project within two years.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday, Rama Naidu explained that the Veligonda project, intended to provide irrigation water to 4,50,000 acres and drinking water to 25 lakh people, was inaugurated by the previous YSRCP government despite unfinished tasks such as the head regulator at Srisailam, retaining walls, tunnel construction, the feeder canal, and housing for displaced families.
The minister noted that it would take nine months to complete work on the first and second tunnels, with drilling and blasting on tunnel two still unfinished. Additionally, the 21.8 km feeder canal remains incomplete.
Rama Naidu pointed out that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu initiated the Veligonda project in 1996 and allocated Rs 1,373 crore in 2014. Between 2014 and 2019, Rs 1,319 crore (96%) was spent, completing 30% of the work.
In contrast, the previous YSRCP government allocated Rs 3,518 crore but only spent Rs 647 crore (18%), he added.