The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has in principle agreed to fund the entire Polavaram project and even pay what the State government has spent on the project till now, Union Minister of State Y.S. Chowdary has said.
Talking to the media after a two-hour meeting with Nabard Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala in New Delhi, the Minister said the bank would release the first instalment of loan to the Polavaram Project Authority on October 15. He said since the State government was not directly involved, none of the restrictions applicable under the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act would affect the project.
Mr. Chowdary along with State Water Resources Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Engineer-in-Chief M Venkateswara Rao held talks with Nabard officials.
While agreeing to fund the project, the Nabard officials asked about the scale of finance, the period of the project and the year-wise instalment required for its completion.
The State Water Resources officials also had a meeting with their Central government counterparts and followed up the progress in the matter of the Polavaram project.
‘Virtual inspection’
Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu along with Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao made a “virtual inspection” of the Polavaram project site with drones and other cameras from the Command Control Centre here on Monday evening.
Mr. Naidu said that the Nabard was likely to release Rs. 800 crore for the project soon.
He urged the contractors and officials to strive to achieve the daily target of 2 lakh cubic metres of earth work for the construction of the dam.
The Chief Minister, on a cue from Polavaram SE Ramesh Kumar, asked if the equipment at the work site was sufficient for the volume of work.
The officials explained to him that the equipment was not sufficient as of now, but it would be increased once the rains stop. He said that work would not be hampered even if there was a flood of 14 lakh cusecs in the river, but it would have to be stopped if the flood was more than that.
Mr Naidu said that he would invite Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti to inspect the progress in work very soon.
A Central Water Commission official said that the Central Government was considering Polavaram as a model project and all the technical know-how for it would be provided.
He said water could be pushed into the canals with the cofferdam itself and work should go on simultaneous on the cofferdam and the regular dam.
