On a day of acrimony and noisy scenes resulting in adjournments, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the Polavaram project would be completed in a time-bound programme aimed at ensuring the water reaches parched districts of the State.
With the opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy charging the Government of poor planning and taking up the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme, which connects Godavari and Krishna by transfer of surplus Godavari water at Pattiseema and then supply to the Rayalaseema districts, Naidu said that the project has been conceived to make use of surplus waters which drains out into the sea untapped.
Unfortunately, the Pattiseema project is being politicised by vested interests including the Opposition leader, who is also seeking support other States against this novel project, Naidu said. He further said that his counterpart, K.Chandrasekhar Rao, who has nothing to do with the project as the water being tapped downstream has no impact on them, has commented against taking up this project.
Intervening in the debate, Naidu mentioned about a report published in Telugu daily Saakshi, which sought to present a totally different picture on the status of the Polavaram project, and said that Jagan, who owns the paper needs to apologise for the falsehood published in the columns as it is against the State’s interest.
Mentioning about the High-powered meeting held in New Delhi on Polavaram project on Monday, Naidu said that the Centre has decided to allow flexibility for the State Government to take up the project on its own, while providing the necessary finances to support the multi-purpose project. This suggestion was made in the interest of the State and for early implementation of the project, Naidu said.
The State Government has conceived the Pattiseema project to ensure that the water that drains out into the sea untapped is utilised without wastage. The project seeks to lift up water and transfer it to Krishna river for supply to the Rayalaseema. The award of contract for the project ha also become a political issue.
During the debate, when Jagan and his partymen stormed the House yet again later in the day, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.