Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday asserted that there would be no drought in Andhra Pradesh if Polavaram project is completed. He said that the project would have been completed by now had the TDP retained power in the 2019 general election. He blamed the previous YSR Congress government for the delay in completing the project. He alleged that the YSR Congress government did nothing for the project in the last five years.
Chandrababu Naidu participated in the short discussion on irrigation projects in the Assembly on Tuesday. He said that the NDA government is giving highest priority to the irrigation projects. The government is also working towards interlinking the rivers. The Vamsadhara river would be linked with the Godavari, he said. While Godavari is linked with Krishna, the Krishna river would be linked with Penna river, he said. The government is working on these lines, he said.
He further added that the state government had taken up the interlinking of rivers proposal with the Central government. He said that he had held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Amit Shah, Water Resources Minister, C R Paatil, and senior officials of the Jal Shakthi Ministry, the Central Water Commission. He said that there was a positive line for the proposal. He expressed confidence that the Central government would assist the State government in completing the interlinking of rivers.
Chandrababu Naidu said that the Irrigation Ministers during the YSR Congress government have no knowledge of irrigation projects. The ministers did not even understand what is a diaphragm wall, he said. The TDP government had completed 72 per cent of the project between 2014 and 2019. The YSR Congress government did nothing in the last five years, he said. He further added that he had visited the project personally for 28 times and held a review meeting on the progress for 80 times virtually.
Chandrababu Naidu further said that the NDA government is working to complete the project by 2027. He said that the project height would remain 45.72 meters and asked the members not to be mislead by the YSR Congress campaign. He said that the work on the new diaphragm wall would begin in January 2025. The diaphragm wall construction would be completed by March 2026, the chief minister said. The Central government had agreed to release Rs 12,157 crore at the earliest for the Polavaram Project, he said.
