VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who envisages interlinking rivers by taking Godavari water to Krishna and from there to Banakacherla to provide irrigation facilities to every acre of land in the State, seems to be mooting the idea of taking up irrigation projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model on the lines of developing National Highways.
“Taking water to Banakacherla, thereby completing the interlinking of rivers is my life ambition. That is my dream. But it will require Rs 70,000 crore as per the existing prices. All of us should think how we can get Rs 70,000 crore. I am considering taking forward the project on the lines of private players taking up the NH projects if possible,” Naidu said, while participating in a short discussion on irrigation projects in the AP Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
Naidu said private players are developing four, six and eight lane highway projects by investing Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh crore. On the similar lines, the Centre and the State government may share some funds, and the remaining by private players to complete the project throughout 20 to 25 years. Income can be generated from now onwards once the interlinking project is conceived, he said, adding that otherwise, the cost estimates may escalate to Rs 2 lakh crore or more.
Asserting that the Polavaram Irrigation Project will be completed by 2027 by overcoming all hurdles, he made it clear that its height will remain at 45.72 metres. He urged the people not to believe the rumours of reduction in the project height.
Mentioning that the international experts suggested construction of a new diaphragm wall instead of repairing the damaged one, the Chief Minister said the works will be commenced in January 2025 and completed by March 2026.
Polavaram project to be completed by 2027
Naidu said he always feels that Polavaram and Amaravati are the two eyes of the State, and the responsibility of completing the construction of the irrigation project was taken up only to see to it that it does not get delayed. Irrigation water was supplied to the farmers through Pattiseema project as there was a delay in completing Polavaram, he mentioned.
Blaming the previous YSRC regime for the delay in completion of Polavaram, Naidu said while the previous TDP government completed 72% of the project works till 2019, only 3% of works were executed during the last five years. Terming Polavaram the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, he said drought in the State can be eradicated if the project is completed.
“We completed Pattiseema in just one year, and supplied water to Rayalaseema. Concrete work of over 32,000 cubic metres was completed in just a single day. The diaphragm wall was completed in 414 days, he said, ridiculing that the Water Resources Minister of the previous government was not aware of what the diaphragm wall is.
Had the TDP continued in power, Polavaram would have been completed by now, Naidu said, and alleged that the previous dispensation stopped the Polavaram works with a vengeance on the TDP. Despite the Centre’s warning not to take hasty decisions, the previous government did not heed, which led to the damage of diaphragm wall, he said.
Informing the House that Rs 16,493 crore was spent on Polavaram by the TDP government during 2014-19, Naidu said Rs 4,099 crore was only spent on the project in the last five years. The Centre has agreed to release Rs 12,157 crore in the next two years for the completion of the remaining Polavaram project works at the earliest, he added.