Former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday asked Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to stop what he described as “dramas” over the Polavaram project.
He urged the Chief Minister to focus on completing the project at its stipulated height of 45.72 metres instead of restricting it to 41.15 metres.
“This will make full-scale storage possible, enabling water to be stored to full capacity and supplied through both the Right and Left Main Canals entirely by gravity. Then there would be no need to depend on the Purushothapatnam and Pushkara lift schemes. Abundant water can be supplied by gravity through both the Polavaram Left Main Canal and the Right Main Canal. Instead of doing this, why all these dramas?” Jagan asked in a post on X.
The former Chief Minister was referring to Chandrababu Naidu inaugurating the Polavaram Left Main Canal in Anakapalli district on Wednesday.
“Chandrababu garu, what is this about lifting Godavari water from the already existing Purushothapatnam project using the existing pumps, releasing it into the existing Polavaram Left Main Canal, and then beating the drum claiming, ‘We have brought Polavaram waters’?” Jagan asked.
“You know, and everyone knows, that this is not water flowing by gravity from the Polavaram reservoir. But the publicity is at an entirely different level. The water is from Purushothapatnam, the canal was constructed during YSR’s tenure, but the desperation to claim the credit is yours. What kind of magic is this?” he asked.
Jagan alleged that the publicity events being conducted over irrigation projects were meant to mislead people.
“The other day it was Veligonda, today it is the Polavaram Left Main Canal, and another day it will be something else. Claiming credit for projects that you neither started nor completed, and getting your friendly media to praise you as though you were their creator, has become a habit,” he alleged.
He also accused the Naidu government of inflating estimates in incomplete works and alleged that this had been the TDP chief’s approach to irrigation projects.
Referring to the Purushothapatnam lift scheme, Jagan said the water now proposed to be released through the pumps was 3,500 cusecs.
“This project and these pumps are not new. They already exist. Then why this drama?” he asked.
Jagan further claimed that 79% of the major works relating to the Polavaram Left Main Canal had been completed during YSR’s tenure.
He also blamed the previous TDP government for what he described as mistakes and mismanagement in the Polavaram project during 2014-19.
According to Jagan, spillway and cofferdam works were left incomplete, while work on the diaphragm wall was taken up without properly diverting the river flow.
He alleged that these decisions delayed the project and caused damage during floods, forcing his government to spend considerable effort during its five-year tenure to rectify the problems.
The YSRCP chief also demanded clarity from Chandrababu Naidu on the final height of the Polavaram project.
“While the FRL of Polavaram is 45.72 metres, water storage is being restricted to only 41.15 metres. The Centre says it will provide funds only up to the 41.15-metre level. Then how will the project be completed to its full extent? How will water be stored to full capacity? When will the package be paid to the displaced families? What is your answer to these questions, Chandrababu garu?” Jagan asked.
