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Affirming that Polavaram project will be completed on time, and be able to supply water during Kharif 2022, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said the project requires ₹37,885 crore for its completion.
Mentioning about the current status of the project, during a short discussion in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said ₹26,585 crore is required for land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation, ₹4,124 crore for power house and ₹7,170 crore for other civil works, thereby taking the total fund requirement to ₹37,885 crore.
“With the constant efforts by the State government, the Union Government had accepted the request for revised project cost. Through reverse tendering, the Government had saved ₹1,343 crore,” he said.
YSR’s works
The Chief Minister said a 100-ft statue of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, former chief minister, would be installed at the site for his initiatives for the take-off of the project. The former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been taking credit for the works done during the YS Rajashekar Reddy regime, he said.
Reddy faulted the shoddy handling of the project by the previous TDP government. He was hopeful the water from the Polavaram project will be supplied to farmers for kharif 2022.
Polavaram is the lifeline of the State. While it was YS Rajasekhara Reddy who brought majority of the clearances, Naidu had been making tall claims that 70 per cent of works were completed but in reality only about 20 per cent of works were completed and land acquisition and R&R was neglected, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the previous government had agreed to the special package of Union Government on September 7, 2016, putting the Polavaram project at stake. It was clearly said that the Central government will fund 100 percent irrigation component to the extent of the cost as on April 1, 2014, leaving behind Land acquisition, R&R, power, and water components.
The Central Government has agreed to the State request for the execution of the project by the State. The previous government never gave a chance for us to discuss this during the assembly session, although we asked them how the projects will get completed with just ₹16,000 crore.
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