Congress slams Naidu for accusing YSR of neglecting Polavaram project
The Congress leader pointed out that YSR was instrumental in getting all permissions, including the crucial environmental clearance, for the project during his regime
Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao on Wednesday took exception to Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s statement accusing former chief minister YS Rajasekha Reddy (YSR) of neglecting the Polavaram major irrigation project being built on Godavari river.
In an open letter to Naidu, the Congress leader said while he would appreciate the commitment of the present government to complete the Polavaram project, the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, by 2027, he was very much pained to blame it on YSR for the inordinate delay in taking up the project.
“In fact, the Polavaram project, which had remained only on paper since 1941, was completely neglected during the TDP regime between 1995 and 2004. It was only after YSR became the chief minister that the project began taking shape,” Rao said.
The Congress leader pointed out that YSR was instrumental in getting all permissions, including the crucial environmental clearance, for the project during his regime. “That UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had visited Polavaram twice during the Congress government itself showed how much importance it had given to the project,” he said.
Rao also asserted that it was during the YSR government that the right and left canals of Polavaram project were constructed to a large extent at a cost of ₹5,000 crore. “After the bifurcation of the combined state, the central government was supposed to complete the project at its own cost, as it was declared a national project as per AP Reorganisation Act. Yet, the state government had taken up the responsibility of completing it, for reasons known to you,” he said.
He said there was nothing wrong on the part of Naidu to claim credit for the progress of works in the Polavaram project so far, but it was not correct to discredit YSR and the Congress government in the past. “I wish your government will complete the project by 2027 as you have claimed in the assembly, and see that Andhra Pradesh will become fertile,” he added.
On Tuesday, Naidu told the state assembly that the Polavaram project would be completed by all means as per the planned height of 45.72 metres by 2027. “The new diaphragm wall construction would commence in January 2025, with completion targeted for 2026. The entire project will be completed by 2027,” he asserted.
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