A team of members of the Central Parliamentary Standing Committee inspected the Polavaram project on Saturday. Led by Standing Committee Chairman Rajiv Pratap Rudy, 11 MPs and 27 engineers reached the project by road from Rajahmundry.
They were welcomed by Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu, MLA Chirri Balaraju, District Collector Vetriselvi, SP Venkata Pratap Sivakishore and JC Dhatri Reddy, who reached the Polavaram project early in the morning. Minister Nimmala explained the necessity of the Polavaram project to the Standing Committee.
Later, the committee met with district officials and project engineers at the project office. After the meeting, the committee inspected the spillway, upper copper dam, diaphragm wall construction area and vibro compaction works in the Polavaram project. CE Narasimha Murthy explained the progress of the project work and related details to the team.
Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu said that the construction of the Polavaram project will be completed by September 2027. Later, speaking to the media, he alleged that due to the previous government’s management, the project construction has been delayed by 20 years.
In the past, he recalled that during the TDP government’s rule, 72 percent of the work in the project construction was completed. The diaphragm wall was constructed with hard work for 18 months, but it was destroyed due to the negligence of the YSRCP government.
“We will carry out the diaphragm wall concrete work as per the deadline given by CM Chandrababu Naidu. In 2017, Chandrababu, who was then in power, provided Rs. 800 crore as compensation to the displaced people. Now, within a short period of coming to power again, Chandrababu has provided more than Rs. 800 crore as compensation”, he added.
During the YSRCP rule, Nimmala lamented that not a single rupee could be given as compensation to the displaced people. The Water Resources Department officials addressed several issues raised by the Committee Chairman regarding the project construction work. The Committee Chairman inquired from the officials about the housing construction undertaken for the displaced persons under the R&R package.