VIJAYAWADA: The State Water Resources officials will once again visit New Delhi early next week as the Union Ministry of Finance is in the process of reverifying the particulars submitted by the State government in the revised cost estimates of Polavaram irrigation project. While the civil construction part is learnt to have been verified, the ministry has sought a few more details regarding the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) aspect.
An official explained that all the necessary information was already submitted and that the next week’s meeting was not a committee meeting. “It is to reverify the R&R calculations and how it has shot up from previous estimates. Our officials will be there on Monday and Tuesday,” the official noted. For the record, the Union Finance Ministry’s Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) committee, on October 24, held the final meeting, in which the State officials said that the revised detailed project report (DPR) would be reverified.
In the meeting, the officials wanted to know how the compensation shot up from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh in a few cases. The State explained that Rs 1 lakh was the registration value and that the escalation was due to the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act brought in 2013, before Polavaram was declared a national project. They elaborated that the increase in the market value of the land along with solatium resulted in increased compensation.
The committee said it would reverify all the particulars and subsequently began the scrutiny. On November 8, while releasing Rs 1,850 crore reimbursement, the ministry’s department of expenditure ‘reiterated’ that audited accounts of expenditure and final cost estimates as on April 1, 2014, be submitted for further release of the money.
To expedite the process, Special Chief Secretary (Water Resources) Adityanath Das camped in the national capital on Thursday and Friday and met the Union water resources officials. Following this, the officials from the State will participate in the reverification process.
With the YSRC MPs deciding to raise the issue of revised DPR approval, clearance of pending reimbursements and release of approved funds for the national project in Parliament, the officials expect positive news this month.