Polavaram became victim of Jagan’s 'inefficiency': Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati, Aug 8: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said that the Polavaram project, the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, has become a victim of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s "incompetence and inefficiency".

As part of his 'Yudha Bheri' programme, a war against the state's government's "negligence" towards the ongoing irrigation projects, Naidu visited Polavaram in West Godavari district.

The former Chief Minister made a power-point presentation on the prevailing condition of the irrigation projects in West Godavari district, remarking that Jagan Mohan Reddy with his "stupidity and inability" has almost drowned the Polavaram project into the Godavari.

Making it clear that he is determined to take the Telugu society forward only by completing the Polavaram project but also by interlinking the rivers, he said that he has already proved that the irrigation projects, including Polavaram, can be completed on a war-footing basis.

The people are now witnessing how the TDP government struggled for constructing Polavaram and how this government is causing severe damage to this national project, he said.

Chandrababu Naidu feels that if the Polavaram needs to be completed, there should be awareness and change among the public. No one can raise any kind of objections to utilise the surplus Godavari waters to meet the needs of the state, he said and made it clear that even if someone raises any kind of objection, the state can easily face them.

The completion of the projects has turned out to be very difficult under YSR Congress government, he said, adding that if the Godavari waters are properly utilised, the state will never witness a water crisis.

Terming Polavaram as a boon to the state, Naidu said that the left main canal of Polavaram is linked to the Nagavali and the Vamsadhara. "We have shifted the water through the main right canal to Pattiseema and supplied water to the Krishna delta and the 120 TMC feet of water which was to be supplied to the Krishna delta is shifted to Rayalaseema via Srisailam," he said.

Noting that the TDP government mainly focussed on all the irrigation projects, including Polavaram, Naidu felt that had the Chintalapudi and Pollavaram been completed, the state would have turned into a fertile Andhra Pradesh.

Claiming that the state has suffered undue damage after the YSRCP came to power, the TDP supremo felt that Polavaram has now become a history and a dream. Giving the details on how the Polavaram project has been conceived and how it is developed till this stage, the TDP chief claimed that the project got delayed by 10 years due to the "vengeful attitude" adopted by then ujndivided Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

In 2004, Chief Minister, Rajasekhara Reddy called for tenders and handed over the works to the Madhukan and the Seenaiah organisations. "YSR resorted to vengeful attitude towards these organisations and thus only five per cent works were completed from 2004 till 2014 and that government had spent a mere Rs 423 crore on the project," Naidu alleged.

Stating that compensation too was not paid to the farmers, he said that no efforts were made to resolve the disputes with the neighbouring states.

The Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) has pointed out all these issues in its report, he said. The PPA also found fault with the reverse tendering decision of this government and raised strong objections, he said.

On August 13, 2019, the PPA said that the present contractor is functioning well and there is no need to replace the organisation, Naidu said and also added that the PPA also pointed out how the headworks have come to a standstill due to replacement of the contractor in 2009.

As Jagan Mohan Reddy did not heed the PPA advice and moved forward with his stupidity this situation has now arisen, he said and stated that while the TDP government had taken decisions with a vision, this Chief Minister has moved forward with inefficiency.

This government has repeatedly been telling lies on the Polavaram project, Chandrababu Naidu said and also stated that experts too have blamed this government for the damage caused to the project.