AP officials have answered several doubts raised by top officials of the Central Finance Department on the proposed Polavaram-Banakacharla projects undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government. The AP officials held a high-level meeting with top officials of the Central Finance Department in New Delhi on Monday and discussed the project for about two hours.
AP Finance Secretary Piyush Kumar, Irrigation Advisor Venkateswara Rao and others participated in the meeting. On this project, the AP government believes that it will be of great benefit to farmers. The government says that it can also provide irrigation and drinking water to many areas. This Banakacharla project will benefit Rayalaseema districts in particular. The project cost is estimated at Rs 81,000 crore, for which AP seeking centre’s assistance.
Along with this, the AP government estimates that the water problem of the combined Nellore and Prakasam districts will also be solved. It is stated that about 80 lakh people will benefit from this project. In this context, AP officials explained to the Central Finance Secretary the benefits of diverting Godavari flood water to the Rayalaseema basin through this Banakacharla project.
It seems that AP officials have explained the objections of the Telangana government to the top officials of the Central Finance Department about this project. In the meetings held last month, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has already explained the proposals of this project to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
CM Chandrababu has also written a letter to the Minister of Water Resources on this project. While many projects are being undertaken in the country including interlinking of rivers, in the letter, it was made clear that his government wants water to reach the districts of Rayalaseema through Banakacherla.
Instead of sending Godavari flood water to the sea in vain, the AP government is making it clear that the people will benefit by sending it to Rayalaseema as well as the joint Prakasam and Nellore districts through Banakacherla.