RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy assured the Polavaram project oustees that all their dues would be cleared by January 2024 as the State government targeted to complete the phase-1 works of the project by 2025.
Speaking to flood-hit victims on the first day of his visit to Kunavaram and Kukkunoor in ASR and Eluru districts respectively on Monday, Jagan said that people affected by the Polavaram project will be provided with all financial relief and would be shifted to their rehabilitation colonies very soon. The Chief Minister stated the package component of Rs 17,000 crore is likely to get the Centre’s nod by the end of this month.
It may be noted that 48 habitations in the 32 villages, that are located above +41.5 contour, have also been found submerging and have been included in the first phase of the R&R drive. The water should be stored up to the +41.5 contour level of the project immediately after the commissioning of the project as per the directives of the Central Water Commission. The water would be stored at the Polavaram irrigation project to its fullest capacity in three stages.
Jagan said that the government would pay compensation soon after it received funds from the Centre. “As many as 12,000 displaced families have been shifted to R&R Colony and plans are afoot to shift 8,000 more families by the end of the year. The state government has increased the compensation for the oustees from Rs 6.8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh,” he elaborated. Taking a dig at the Opposition, the Chief Minister said, “The TDP regime committed blunders in the construction of the dam, else the project would have been completed by now.”