VIJAYAWADA: On day three of the Assembly session on Monday, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy blamed the previous TDP government for the delay and blunders in the Polavaram irrigation project.
He maintained that his government has been striving to expedite the project works . On resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) package to people displaced due to the irrigation project, Jagan said his government has assured to offer Rs 10 lakh each to the affected people against the previous regime’s Rs 6.86 lakh.
Intervening in a discussion during the Question Hour, Jagan produced photo copies of the project, comparing the progress during the TDP and YSRC regimes. He said after completion of the dam, water will be stored up to the level of 41.15 metres and not to its full capacity in view of safety and as per norms of the Central Water Commission.
Of the total 1.06 lakh displaced people, 20,946 come under the 41.15-metre reservoir level and of them, financial assistance of Rs 19,060 crore has been given to 14,110 people, the chief minister said. Efforts are on to extend compensation to the remaining 6,836 by October 2022, Jagan added.
‘YSRC govt gave Rs 1,773 cr to 10K displaced people in 3 yrs’
“During their five-year tenure, the TDP spent Rs 193 crore to pay compensation to 3,073 Polavaram displaced persons, while our government in three years has paid Rs 1,773 crore to 10,330 persons,” he said. Jagan said the previous TDP government accepted the Centre’s condition to pay for the project as per prices in 2011, without considering inflation.
“Now, we are trying to convince the Centre to pay the revised price of the project. We are yet to receive Rs 2,900 that the State exchequer spent on the project,” he expressed.Holding Naidu’s government responsible for the “sorry state of affairs” of the Polavaram irrigation project, Jagan said the previous regime accepted the Centre’s special package in the middle of the night.
“Godavari flows in a width of 2.1 km at Polavaram. Works on the spillway should be completed first. Works for cofferdam, a temporary structure to facilitate the construction of the main dam, should be taken up after construction of spillway and approach channel. However, the previous government left two gaps each — 380 m and 300 m in upper cofferdam and 680 m and 120 m in lower cofferdam — without completing the spillway and approach channel. As a result, water supposed to flow through the width of 2.1 km has flown into the gaps with high velocity resulting in scouring,” the Chief Minister explained. Works at the project will be taken up from November on war-footing, Jagan asserted.
‘ANDHRA’S GROWTH BETTER NOW’
During a discussion on ‘Industrial Development - Investments and Financial Growth’, CM Jagan asserted that industrial growth was better now than what it was during TDP’s rule