Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday wrote to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari demanding that the Centre reimburse Rs 3,722.04 crore that had been spent by the state government for the multi-purpose Polavaram project.
“I would like to bring to your kind notice that the expenditure incurred on the project after declaration as ‘National Project’ is Rs 10,459.30 crore. Out of this, an amount of Rs 6,727.26 crore only has been reimbursed by Government of India so far. The last reimbursement received on June 11, 2018. Since then, there is no reimbursement of expenditure already incurred by the state government so far. A balance amount of Rs 3,722.04 crore is to be reimbursed,” the letter by Naidu states.
“The state government with great difficult is providing required funds from its available meagre resources to the project so that progress of the ongoing works is not hampered. This is affecting the implementation of other flagship programs of the state severely,” Naidu added.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief also said that any further delay in the reimbursement would adversely affect the present pace of progress of works. The funds were demanded under Section 90 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which declared Polavaram as a national project.
Speaking about the present status, Naidu wrote, “The project works are going on at a brisk pace and all efforts are made to complete the project as per schedule by 2019. So far, 54.33% of works of headworks (Dams and connectivity), 90% of Right Main Canal works and 67.37% of Left Main Canal works are completed. 64.31% of overall project is completed so far with a total expenditure of Rs 15,585.17 crore.”
Naidu also pointed out that during Gadkari’s visit to the project site in July 2018, he had promised to extend all support to the project, including timely release of funds to complete it by February 2019.
“We have been leaving no stone unturned to speed up works on all fronts for scheduled completion of the project….I wish to remind you that unless the amounts which are due to us are reimbursed immediately by the Government of India, the country is likely to lose a golden opportunity to complete a national project which is benefitting more than five states directly,” Naidu concluded.
The Polavaram project is a major multi-purpose irrigation project being constructed on the Godavari River, and spread across three states – Andhra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. A dam is currently under construction in West Godavari and East Godavari districts of Andhra.
The project will lift water from the Godavari River near Tadipudi village in West Godavari District and pump it through the Main Canal into the 20 TMC capacity Jalleru reservoir, and then supply water to West Godavari and Krishna Districts.