VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief YS Sharmila Reddy lambasted both the previous YSRCP and current coalition governments for their failure to reconstruct the Annamayya Project in Kadapa district, which collapsed in 2021, claiming 39 lives and submerging five villages.
Speaking in Kadapa and Vijayawada, Sharmila highlighted the government’s inaction, noting that over 30,000 acres remain without irrigation and 100,000 people lacked drinking water for five years.
She accused former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of misusing Rs 800 crore allocated for repairs without laying a single brick, while current CM N Chandrababu Naidu, despite visiting Rajampeta twice and announcing Rs 340 crore, has failed to initiate meaningful progress, resorting to surveys and hollow promises.
Sharmila termed the project an ‘orphan’, neglected by both regimes, with no rehabilitation for displaced families, including promised housing or jobs for those who lost loved ones.
She criticised the YSRCP for stalling with high-level committees and the coalition for time-wasting tactics, pointing to issues like sand mafia involvement that exacerbated the dam’s damage. Sharmila demanded immediate full-scale funding to complete the project and a permanent solution to the crisis. She urged the government to honour commitments to affected families, en-suring comprehensive rehabilitation.
The continued neglect, she warned, is a betrayal of the region’s farmers and residents, leaving the Annamayya Project’s promise unfulfilled and the affected communities in despair.