Release white paper on Polavaram: Undavalli

He took strong exception to the State government’s remarks that the construction of the diaphragm wall before building the cofferdam by the previous regime was a mistake.
Former Congress MP Undavalli Arun Kumar (File photo| EPS)
Former Congress MP Undavalli Arun Kumar (File photo| EPS)

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Former MP Undavalli Arun Kumar on Wednesday demanded that the YSRC government release a white paper on the Polavaram project to reveal the facts pertaining to its execution. The demand comes in the wake of the Centre’s inordinate delay in sanctioning of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package for the displaced families of submergence villages.

Speaking to media persons here, he said the government should make the facts pertaining to the diaphragm wall public, which was constructed during the previous TDP regime and washed away in the Godavari floods. He took strong exception to the State government’s remarks that the construction of the diaphragm wall before building the cofferdam by the previous regime was a mistake. It is better to set up an expert committee to look into the matter as Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu maintained that the government has to bear an additional burden of hundreds of crores to reconstruct the damaged diaphragm wall, he said.

Undavalli said he had lost hope to see the completion of the Polavaram Irrigation Project during his lifetime as the Water Resources Minister maintained that there would be no time frame for its execution. The former MP termed the concerns raised by some ministers and officials of the neighbouring Telangana pertaining to the submergence of villages in Bhadrachalam due to the construction of the Polavaram project ridiculous as all these aspects were taken into consideration before clearing it.

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