Polavaram in jeopardy: Jagan

Hyderabad: Leader of the Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has expressed apprehensions over the prospects of irrigation projects being completed and particularly the Polavaram project getting off the ground. The Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project may undermine the Polavaram project, he feared.

On the opening day of the three-day “Projects Bata” after interacting with farmers and officials here on Wednesday, he said, “The way Pattiseema project is taken up in a hurry makes the intention of the State very clear and it wants to make Polavaram redundant.” While the project needed Rs 16,000 crores, YSR had sanctioned Rs 4,000 crores.

The officials said during the past 11 months just Rs 100 crores was released. This apathy on the part of the government demonstrated that it had planned to put the Polavaram project in cold storage. The State had approved tender excess over 16.9 per cent for the Pattiseema project.

The excess percentage was sought to have been justified by the Chief Minister describing it as bonus for completing the work within one year. While the tenders were called for completing the works in one year, where did the question of bonus come from was beyond comprehension.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had been changing his tunes on the completion of Polavaram project.

During electioneering, he said it would be completed in three years and it was incorporated in the manifesto as well but later said the project would be completed in four years. The Rs 16,000 crore project, to be completed in four years, would require funds at the rate of Rs 4,000 crores a year but only Rs 100 crores was released which showed the insincerity of the State, “he said.