VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called on Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on Wednesday and urged him to approve the Revised Cost Estimates of Polavaram project to the tune of Rs 55,656 crore at the 2017-18 price level index.
Jagan said that the number of families to be evacuated has increased considerably in 2017-18 as compared to 2005-06 from 44,574 to 1,06,006, by which the land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation cost has increased.
Observing that the expenditure will increase further if there is delay in taking up the works, Jagan underscored the need for completion of the project at the earliest and sought the support of the Centre for the same.
Urging the Union Minister to reimburse the funds spent by the State government on rehabilitation and resettlement, he said the Centre is yet to reimburse Rs 1,779 crore spent by it on the national project. The reimbursement bills date back to December 2018.
The Chief Minister also requested the Union minister to complete all works related to land acquisition and rehabilitation by December 2021. Responding positively to the appeals made by the Chief Minister, the Union Minister directed Jal Shakti Ministry Advisor Sriram Vadire to discuss with the Andhra Pradesh government on interlinking Godavari and Kaveri rivers. The Chief Minister later invited the Jal Shakti Ministry advisor to visit the State.
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested his intervention in addressing issues pertaining to the Polavaram project. The Chief Minister wound up his two-day visit and returned to the State on Wednesday afternoon.
Polavaram Project Authority member-secretary visits project site
Member secretary of Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) D Ranga Reddy inspected various works at the project site, including those related to power project and upstream cofferdam, and expressed satisfaction over the progress.
He said that the works were progressing swiftly as per the plan. Executive engineer Pandurangaiah, general manager of Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) Muddu Krishna were present