VIJAYAWADA: Reasserting that Polavaram is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has promised to ensure justice to all those who sacrificed everything for the irrigation project. “We will complete the rehabilitation of all the displaced families before making the irrigation project operational,” he vowed.
Naidu conducted an aerial survey of the Polavaram project on Thursday, and later held a meeting with the displaced families.
“After the TDP-led NDA came to power in the State in 2014, we have disbursed Rs 4,311 crore as compensation to the displaced families. The previous regime neither thought about you nor cared for your problems in the last five years. They didn’t even acknowledge your hardship,” Naidu said, adding that Rs 829 crore was directly deposited into the bank accounts of the project oustees.
Mentioning that former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy promised Rs 10 lakh compensation to each displaced family, Naidu sought to know if he fulfilled his assurance. Not even a single rupee was given to the project oustees during the YSRCP regime, he said.
“Even during Godavari floods, they ignored your plight. Had our government continued in 2019, the Polavaram project would have been completed by 2020,” Naidu said.
The delay had resulted in significant escalation of the project cost. The diaphragm wall constructed at a cost of Rs 400 crore was damaged due to the negligence of the YSRCP government, he said.
‘48 rehab centres under phase-1B by July 2026’
“Now, we are rebuilding the diaphragm wall at a cost of Rs 990 crore. Public money should be spent for the benefit of people, not wasted,” he observed.
Recalling that he treated Monday as Polavaram Day, and personally visited the project 33 times during 2014-19, Naidu promised to complete the rehabilitation of the displaced families by 2027.
Blaming the previous YSRCP regime for diverting the Central funds allocated to the Polavaram project to other purposes, the Chief Minister felt that the oustees would have already been settled had the project been completed on time. If the Polavaram hydel project had been completed, it would have generated Rs 2,500 crore revenue, he said.
Highlighting that this is his third visit to the project after assuming charge as the Chief Minister, Naidu said the Polavaram has been put back on to track within nine months.
“After we came to power, foreign experts had studied the condition of the project, and suggested that a new diaphragm wall needs to be constructed. A huge sum of Rs 440 crore spent on the construction of the old diaphragm wall had gone totally waste,” he said.
Assuring that by July 2026, 48 rehabilitation centres will be completed in six mandals under phase-1B, he said another Rs 6,270 crore needs to be spent to provide rehabilitation to those who fall under phase-1A, phase-2 1A and 1B. An additional expenditure has to be made for land acquisition and rehabilitation. “This is a classic example of how the State has to bear an additional burden for the blunders committed by an individual,” Naidu remarked.
Taking the completion of Polavaram as an example, the proposed Polavaram-Banakacherla project will be executed speedily, he said, exuding confidence that both the projects will be completed with the cooperation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
