Sharmila demands construction of Polavaram at 45.7 m height
Seeks a white paper detailing the benefits of building the Polavaram project at the lowered height of 41.15 metre
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Y S Sharmila urged the state government to construct the Polavaram project at its originally planned height of 45.7 metre, warning that a reduced height of 41 metre would render it a mere barrage rather than a full-fledged project. Speaking to the media at the state party office Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Friday, Sharmila demanded that the government release a white paper detailing the benefits of building the Polavaram project at the lowered height of 41.15 metre, questioning its efficacy and purpose.
She accused the government of lowering the project’s height to avoid compensating 85,000 affected families and evading the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package. She appealed to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and coalition leaders not to betray the people of Andhra Pradesh by compromising on the project’s scale. She further criticised Andhra Pradesh MPs for lacking the courage to challenge the BJP, which she alleged has deceived the state’s populace.
The APCC chief pointed out that former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had erred by reducing the height to 41 metre, a mistake she urged the current NDA coalition government to correct.
Sharmila reminded that the Central government had committed to constructing the Polavaram project, a vision championed by her father, former CM Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. She noted that all necessary permissions were secured during his tenure, yet the project remains incomplete, alleging gross neglect by Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Originally, the project was estimated at Rs 10,151 crore with a storage capacity of 194 tmc ft and a height of 45.7 metre. However, Sharmila claimed that CM Naidu had inflated the cost to Rs 50,000 crore. She accused the NDA government and the BJP of undermining the project by reducing its height to 41 metre, betraying the state’s interests.
Sharmila demanded clarity on the project’s irrigation potential and insisted on restoring the original height to fulfil its intended purpose.
