The twisting of facts by the Opposition leaders will deprive people displaced by the Polavaram project of the benefits due to them, Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao has said.
Addressing the media here on Friday, the Minister said the cost of land acquisition, and resettlement and rehabilitation had increased from ₹3,000 crore to ₹33,000 crore because of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which was passed by Parliament.
The provisions of the Act would immensely benefit those being dislocated by the project. But the Opposition leaders were trying to confuse the people by saying that the project cost was being escalated by the TDP government for commissions.
Dig at YSRCP
In reality, it was the Congress leaders, many of whom were now in the YSR Congress Party, who were responsible for the escalation of the project cost, he charged.
From ₹16,010 crore, the cost of the project increased to ₹54,000 crore, and ₹33,000 crore was for people who were displaced, he said.
“The people who have given up their lands and homes for the project are Gods. We want them to get the best compensation,” Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said.
The State government was ready to pay whatever was needed for land acquisition and rehabilitation, the Minister said.
Mistakes committed by the Congress when in power was the primary reason for cost escalation, he alleged.
Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said that he had challenged YSRCP president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to explain why tenders for the Polavaram project had been foreclosed when the Congress was in power. But there was no response. The reason was corruption, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao alleged.
Gadkari visit
The CEO of the Polavaram Project Authority was sent to the site to look into various aspects and report to Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari. After that, the offices of the Union Minister and the Chief Minister would fix a date for Mr. Gadkari’s visit, the Minister said.
