Jagan seeks GOI aid for Polavaram, housing

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy began his hectic Delhi tour on Thursday by first meeting the union minister for forests, Prakash Javadekar. Later, he called on the union minister for Jal Shakti (water resources), Gajendra Singh Shekawat.

The CM explained the progress of Polavaram project in detail to Shekawat and took up the issue of pending funds and grants for the project. He impressed upon the minister for timely release of funds to complete the project on time.

The CM pressed for GOI approval for investment clearance for Polavaram project as recommended by the PPA and the Central Water Commission  and accepted by Technical Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Jal Shakti for Rs 55,656.87 crore at 2017-18 price list at the earliest, so that project works including land acquisition and R&R (relief and rehabilitation) can be completed as per schedule by June 2022.

The CM requested the Jal Shakti Minister to consider the water supply component as an integral part of the irrigation component and this would be in consonance with the guidelines followed by the Ministry of Jal Shakti towards national projects. He urged the minister to reimburse the expenditure without restricting it to component-wise eligibility. He also sought reimbursements for land acquisition and R&R compensation for project affected families of the project as per the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013.

The Chief Minister also sought shifting of the headquarters of PPA from Hyderabad to Rajamahendravaram at an early date as it is difficult for the officials to come all the way from Hyderabad for project monitoring and inspection.

Earlier, the Chief Minister requested Prakash Javadekar to solve some problems in environmental clearances regarding the stocking works of Polavaram project.

Later, the CM met Niti Aayog vice-chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar. He explained the programmes undertaken under the Housing for All scheme in AP. He informed that 30.76 lakh house site pattas were already given to the beneficiaries by distributing 68,381 acres of land which was procured by the government. He said that 17,005 new colonies would come up with all amenities across the state.

CM Jagan said that "We are constructing over 15 lakh new houses this year and a total of 28.30 lakh houses are being constructed in the next three years."

The Chief Minister explained that the government appointed a Joint Collector for each district to ensure the smooth performance of the housing programme. He explained that it is estimated to cost Rs 34,109 crore to provide basic amenities in the proposed housing colonies and it was difficult for the state government to bear such a huge amount.

CM Jagan said that if the minimum infrastructure is not provided then there would be a lot of difficulties to the housing beneficiaries. He sought to include the cost of infrastructure of these colonies as part of the PMAY scheme. The Chief Minister further spoke to Dr. Rajiv Kumar on issues related to the Polavaram project and sought approval of estimates for the timely completion of the project construction.