A YSRCP delegation comprising MPs, MLAs and MLCs, which visited the Polavaram project site on Thursday, alleged that the State government took over the execution though it was declared a national project for kickbacks in contracts.
The team demanded that the Central and the State governments should own up responsibility for their failure to keep their word to complete the project as per schedule and vowed to raise the issue of delay in Parliament.
Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy asked why the State took up the project when the onus of executing it as national project was on the Centre under the A.P. Reorganisation Act (APRA). It was a blunder to claim to do what the Centre was supposed to, he affirmed.
Corruption charge
He said for water to be given by gravity nearly 10.50 crore cubic metres of earth and rock excavation was to be done but only 7.50 crore had been done so far as per the official accounts.
Because of this delay, the spillway, crucial for gravity, could not be readied for so long. Even going by this single yardstick, the target to supply water was far-fetched. Construction of the upper and lower cofferdams had not yet begun as soil instability was cited as the excuse.
Mr. Rajamohan Reddy demanded that the State should explain what forced it to take up a project that was clearly beyond its reach as the cost had escalated to a whopping ₹58,000 crore.
Ongole MP Y.V. Subba Reddy said the State took up the project expecting bribes, which was evident from awarding of packages to subcontractors.
Having seen the State’s wavering and alleged collusion with the contractors, the YSRC would raise the issue in Parliament and mount pressure on it to discharge its duty under the APRA.
Tirupati MP V. Varaprasada Rao said it was with money earned through corrupt means like in the implementation of Polavaram that the ruling party was buying MLAs and demanded that the Chief Minister should mention one completed project worthy of praise.
MLC Pilli Subhaschandra Bose said to say the State could not execute the project was an insult to the people of Andhra Pradesh.
The State spent close to ₹3,500 crore on Pattiseema and Purushotthapatnam in spite of the Central government’s clarification that they were not part of Polavaram.
Now, if the project was handed back to the Centre, who would bear the loss on account of the funds already poured into the main project and Pattiseema and Purushotthapatnam, he sought to know.
