All obstacles for completion of Polavaram Project have been cleared with the passage of the A.P. Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha merging villages in seven mandals, falling in the submergence area under Polavaram Project, in Khammam district, into Andhra Pradesh.
The State government has set for itself a deadline of completing the prestigious project in three years, said Major Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday the Minister said the multi-purpose project would generate 960 megawatts of power and create additional ayacut of 7.2 lakh acres benefiting farmers in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chattisgarh. He said Rs. 3,200 crore was needed for land acquisition and rehabilitation of those living in areas that would be inundated. The plan for rehabilitation factored in several aspects, including the problems of the tribal hamlets that would be affected and efforts would be made to protect their rights.
The Minister urged Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao not to politicise the issue and provoke people. Mr. Rao was fully aware of the proposal to merge the villages into Andhra Pradesh. He said it was not proper to provoke “innocent people who did not know the facts”.
He said the State government would not hesitate to spend more than Rs. 3,200 crore allocated by the Centre to safeguard the interests of the affected people.
The people of Andhra Pradesh sacrificed Hyderabad and Secunderabad which were valued at Rs. 16,600 lakh crore and accepted several other conditions for which the TRS leader ‘prepared a script’ and gave to AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
He said the affected families would be rehabilitated with education, health, housing, roads and other necessary infrastructure and care would be taken to safeguard all their rights and the culture. It was not proper on the part of the TRS to call for protests and bandhs that would precipitate the issue, he said.