Opposition leader in the Assembly Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday asserted that his party was against Pattiseema lift irrigation project as the project, awarded through selective tendering process, would not serve any purpose.
The YSR Congress, he said, was opposed to the project as it had no storage component and the project, once operational, could pose new problems with the neighbouring States.
“The Pattiseema project is envisaged to lift 80 tmcft of water from Godavari to Krishna. Some clauses in the award of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal make it clear that the upper riparian States of Maharashtra and Telangana will be entitled to proportionate amount of water once the project is operational. This could lead to new problems,” he said.
Moreover, the order issued on Pattiseema had no mention about Rayalaseema in that it says the water was being diverted for domestic and industrial purposes. The government could spend the same amount on projects like Handri-Neeva, Galreu Nagari and Velugonda that were aimed at catering to the needs of Rayalaseema.
The YSRC was supporting the Polavaram project as it had a component envisaging storage of 190 tmcft of water which could be diverted to the Krishna delta. “But the project is progressing at a snail’s pace in spite of huge mobilisation advances released by the government. The contractor Transstroy, owned by TDP MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, is a benami of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.
He substantiated his claims by citing that the project design had been altered bringing down the number of motors and pumps. Going by the economy of scale as also the dip in prices of steel and aluminium, the project cost should come down.
“But the contractor had pitched for Rs. 250 crore more on account of change in design,” he said.
The government had awarded the project for tender with an excess quotation of over 20 per cent and the demand for additional sum on account of change in design would impose further burden on the ex-chequer. He launched a trenchant attack on the Chief Minister for not acting against the contractor in spite of two letters addressed by the Union Government agencies that hauled up the contractor for the slow pace of works.
“Why is he not scrapping the contract and awarding it to the agency that can expeditiously complete the works?” he asked.
