Naidu accuses Jagan of stalling Polavaram works

VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday criticised Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's handling of the Polavaram, leading to stalling of works on the project.

He accused Jagan of reversing AP with reverse tendering of Polavaram, thereby becoming a curse for the project, which is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu announced, "I am undertaking a state-wide tour from next week with the sole aim of bringing awareness among public on the need for progress and development. I will visit all projects and explain to people the damage caused by Jagan and his government."

The former CM claimed that the diaphragm wall of Polavaram has got washed away due to foolish decisions of Jagan. "The ruling dispensation should explain in detail its failures and not counter-attack us on destruction caused at Polavaram,” he remarked.

Naidu said the TD government had spent ₹11,537 crore on Polavaram project, while the YSRC dispensation has till now spent a meagre amount of ₹4,611 crore. “Jagan, while in opposition, had spoken so highly of the project displaced, but he has deceived them after coming to power,” he underlined.

The TD chief said it needs to be determined why the project, supposed to be completed by 2020 itself, is getting abnormally delayed and who is responsible for the technical errors. He maintained that the faulty decisions of Jagan government are responsible for the state of affairs.

The former chief minister said 4,000 TMC feet of Godavari water is flowing into the sea. “Had this water been properly utilised, the contours of AP would have changed totally. The hydro-power project would have solved power problems of the state completely,” he observed.