The Andhra Pradesh government squarely blamed previous Telugu Desam Party rule for the delay in the construction of Polavaram irrigation project. It also said that the previous TDP government’s ‘unmindful and wrong policies’ had impacted the project and its works in the ‘worst possible manner’.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu said that N. Chandrababu Naidu, while he was in power, committed “historic blunders” in the execution of Polavaram project.
It was a big blunder to construct a diaphragm wall even before the construction of cofferdam. The diaphragm wall got damaged to an extent of 1.7 km, which resulted in deep pits due to floods and the gaps left in the cofferdam construction. The previous government had spent ₹400 crore on constructing the diaphragm wall, he said and alleged, “With an eye on kickbacks, the TDP took up construction of the diaphragm wall.”
Mr. Rambabu said in fact, it would have been a wise step by the TDP government to focus on Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) packages before launching the construction works. Later, as a second step, cofferdam should have been taken up. However, it did not happen. People from 34 villages, who feared submergence, approached Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and Central Water Commission (CWC), which ordered stalling of the works. If not for the blunder and mismanagement of the project by the previous TDP regime, it would have been completed earlier, he averred.
The Minister, however, was non-committal on the deadline for completion of the project. The works would be taken up in a phased manner, he quipped.
Referring to change in the contractors, the Minister reminded that the previous government too changed the contractor. The TDP changed Transstroy and awarded the works to Navayuga on nomination basis, while YSRCP government changed contractors by duly following the tendering process, and saved 12.8% of the cost, the Minister asserted.
