VIJAYAWADA: Water Resources Minister P Anil Kumar has said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue of revised cost estimates (RCE) of Polavaram Irrigation project, which has become a bone of contention between the State and Centre. The minister said that the project works would not be stopped even as the State would continue to "fight it out" with the Centre.
To a query if the State government would hand over the project execution to the Centre, the minister, in a press conference here on Saturday, said, "As of now, the Chief Minister has written a letter to the PM. Soon, the Chief Minister will meet the Prime Minister and explain to him the situation. We will wait for a response from the Prime Minister’s Office. We will reciprocate accordingly. If it comes to the point where the Centre doesn’t consider our arguments, we are ready [to hand it over] because it is the Centre’s duty to complete the project. We are only executing it on Centre’s behalf."
The minister blamed the previous TDP government for the "mess" pertaining to the project cost. He said that the previous government agreed to the package announced by the Union government and brought a national project under a state package without considering cost escalation.
"Although the Polavaram Project Authority had repeatedly asked to submit the RCE, the TDP government failed to do so. The finance ministry announced the special package in September, 2016, and passed a cabinet resolution on the same in March 2017. Even in the months between the two developments, the State did not have an estimated cost of the project," the minister said.
"Yet, it simply accepted the package without considering the cost escalation, which ultimately led to the present quandary. The TDP government, which is giving sermons now, did not even object when the Centre removed the water supply component," he added.
He asserted that the construction of the project will not stop. "We will complete the civil works of the project as scheduled and will also take up land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement. Even if the Centre doesn’t give funds, we will continue to fight but will complete the project," he said.
Farmer organisations to meet Polavaram Project Authority CEO
Various farmers'organisations, irrigation experts, intellectuals, and political leaders, who met in Vijayawada on Saturday, passed a resolution demanding that the Centre approve the revised cost estimates of Polavaram project at 2017-18 price level of Rs 55,656 crore as approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The members have also decided to meet the CEO of Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) on Monday and submit a representation demanding that necessary funds required for the completion of project be approved. The PPA is set to hold a meeting to discuss the issue of RCE approval in Hyderabad on Monday.