A.P. Water Resources Minister faults YSRCP Government for Polavaram project fiasco

Blame on YSRCP for Polavaram project issues, delays, and damages, with details on construction challenges and government spending.

Blaming the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government for the Polavaram project fiasco, Water Resources Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu said on August 17 (Saturday) that the expert team from IIT-Hyderabad had stated in its report that the massive flood of 23 lakh cusecs in August 2020 damaged the upper cofferdam, and the change of executing agencies between May 2019 and August 2020 caused destruction of the diaphragm wall.

Mr. Rama Naidu asserted that it was because of the inordinate delay in the construction of the cofferdam that undermined the diaphragm wall, which pushed the whole project into jeopardy.

Addressing the media in New Delhi, Mr. Rama Naidu said the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) had duly warned of the consequences of changing the agencies, but the YSRCP Government did not pay heed to it.

The PPA also raised a serious concern on getting the diaphragm wall constructed without finishing the upper and lower cofferdams.

The progress of these structures halted at about 70%. The minutes of the PPA meetings clearly mentioned the adverse impact of ‘reverse tendering’ on the project.

Mr. Rama Naidu further said the TDP Government had spent ₹11,720 crore on Polavaram between 2014 and 2019 without waiting for Central assistance. Subsequently, the Central Government had reimbursed ₹6,764 crore.

In stark contrast, the Centre had during 2019-24 released ₹8,382 crore, of which only ₹4,167 crore was spent by the YSRCP Government, for which former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Cabinet owed an explanation.