Speaking during the question hour in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Budget Sessions on Monday, Minister of State for Water Resources and Irrigation Anil Kumar Yadav, said that the Polavaram project was like a lifeline for Andhra Pradesh. He said that the late chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy acquired the permissions for the project.
Bringing out various facts over the revised estimates of the Polavaram project, he alleged that the TDP had built Patteesima project and robbed the state coffers of Rs 350 crore. He said that more than one lakh six thousand families have to be relocated under the Relief and Rehabilitation package. He also informed the Assembly that had Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy not built the side canals of the projects the state would have had an additional burden of thousands of Crore of Rupees because of the land acquisition.
He said that AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had given clear instructions that justice should be given to those who have been displaced because of the Polavaram project. He criticised the previous Government that, except for taking photos near Polavaram, they had no intention to complete the project. Even when thousands of families were at the risk of being submerged, the TDP government paid no heed to their sufferings instead they went on increasing project estimates.
When the YSRCP came to power it, allocated Rs 5,550 Crore for the project and more than 25 thousand families would be rehabilitated he said. The Water Resources Minister further gave an assurance that they would complete Polavaram within two years and set a record.