The Central government has announced its decision to provide Rs. 250 crore as financial assistance for setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the Polavaram project.
A Union government statement on Thursday said the assistance was being extended under Section 90 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The allocation comes in the light of criticism faced by the TDP-BJP alliance over the meagre allocation made to the multipurpose project that had been declared as a national project by the Centre.
The two parties drew flak from the Opposition over the allocation of Rs. 100 crore made for Polavaram project in the Union Budget. The allocation, the parties criticised, would be insufficient for a project of the magnitude of Polavaram.
The ruling party, however, defended the allocation claiming that it was made for the Polavaram Project Authority and not for the project even as Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu made a fervent plea to the Centre to allot sufficient funds for ensuring the completion of the project. In a letter addressed to the Union Water Resources Ministry recently, the State government explained that the allocations have slowed down the work at the project site.
According to the government report, only 4.6 per cent of the head-works at the dam were executed till December last. At the earth dam, only 1.12 per cent progress was recorded during the last one year.
The works of spillway, spill channel, approach channel and earth-cum-rock fill dam were not moving forward due to paucity of funds, the letter said. Mr. Naidu also urged the Central government for linking of Godavari and Krishna rivers in the light of the BJP-led NDA government actively pursuing various river interlinking projects in the country.
Centre extends assistance under Section 90 of the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014
