Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu visited Polavaram on Monday, his first official tour after assuming charge last week. He was accompanied by Water Resources Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu and other leaders. Naidu inspected the site from the view point in the afternoon and reviewed the status of pending works relating to this project which is the lifeline of the state.
Later in the evening, Naidu held a press meet and squarely blamed the former government for disrupting the progress of the project with its negligence and ego. He directly attacked Jagan Mohan Reddy for resorting to reverse tendering process and lamented that all the hard work done by his government during the 2014-19 period went down the drain.
Naidu said Jagan is a curse for the state. He destroyed the dream project of the state with his inexperience and vindictive politics. Naidu expressed deep pain after reviewing the status of the project and announced that it would take another 4 years to complete the pending works because the previous government has wasted the precious 5 years time otherwise it would have been completed by 2022.
Naidu claimed that 72 percent works had been completed during his previous tenure, when the project was granted national status by the central government. He pointed out that immediately after taking charge in 2019, Jagan’s government changed the contractors and workers of the project due to which all works came to a standstill.
Due to negligence and lack of proper engineering team at the site, the diaphragm wall was damaged due to floods in the first two years. This has done an irrevocable damage and would require additional 447 Crores for the renovation works. He noted that the government has already spent 446 Crores for construction of diaphragm wall. Naidu further stated as there is no guarantee for the wall, it would cost another 990 Crores to construct it again.
“A great example is when a useless person enters politics,” Naidu remarked adding that Jagan Reddy made unforgivable mistakes and hindered the project. Naidu mentioned that he had reviewed the project 100 times and visited the site 30 times. This is his 31st visit to the site.
