Get Polavaram funds, finish the job: Parties

Rajahmundry: Political leaders demanded the state government to persuade the Centre to release funds for the Polavaram irrigation project totally. Leaders from different parties held a round table conference where they expressed doubts on the possibility of finishing the Polavaram irrigation project within the time frame here on Monday. The meeting passed three resolutions. One of them demanded  publishing of a white paper on execution of the project. The other resolutions covered mounting pressure upon the Centre to fund the project as per norms of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and demanding Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to lead an all party delegation to meet Union minister for water resources Nitin Gadkari to discuss the project.

The leaders also cautioned that if the CM failed to arrange such a meeting, they intended to meet the Union minister with help from the BJP leaders. Former MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar wondered why the Chief Minister was becoming nervous to publish a white paper on execution of Polavaram project. YSR Congress farmers' wing chief M.V.S. Nagi Reddy expressed concern over the state government's plan to raise the height of upstream coffer dam and divert water through canals to reach targeted command area by gravity for cultivation of crop by 2018.

Raising doubts, he said that there was no project built with such design earlier. YSR Congress leader Kandula Durgesh flayed the state government for taking up execution of the Polavaram project on its own. He wanted the state to hand it over to the Centre when there were issues on sanctioning funds by the Centre as the state government failed to submit proper details of expenditure on the project.