VIJAYAWADA: Water Resources Minister P Anil Kumar has alleged that the damage to the diaphragm wall of Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) was due to the ‘poor planning’ by the previous TDP government. He noted that 185 metres of the 1,400-metre-long diaphragm wall was damaged due to the floods because of the haphazard manner in which the construction of the project was done by the earlier regime.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the minister said, “The works were taken up haphazardly. If the spill channel and the spillway were completed, water could have been diverted through them and then the construction of cofferdams and diaphragm wall should be done. But, the earlier government built the diaphragm wall in 2018 and left spill channel and spillway construction midway, which resulted in the damage now. We have pointed it out on several occasions that execution by the TDP would result in damage and losses. We had also informed the Polavaram Project Authority about the same.” He further alleged that the previous TDP government had given contracts to its close associates.