A roundtable of representatives of all political parties held here on Monday demanded that the State government fix a deadline to finalise relief and rehabilitation to the evacuees of the Polavaram project, besides announcing the schedule for completion of various phases of the major irrigation project. The Communist Party of India (CPI) hosted the roundtable in which representatives of the CPI (M), the Congress, the YSR Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party participated.
Former MP from Bhadrachalam from the CPI(M), Midiyam Babu Rao, made it clear that no one was opposing the Polavaram project, but was asking for implementation of the relief and rehabilitation to all the evacuees.
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“The assessment for the relief and rehabilitation was done in 2004-05 and the government is claiming that the relief will be provided basing on those statistics only. But, the same government has revised the contract rates to the year 2015 on a war-footing and implementing it with retrospective effect. It is clearly showing that the government is in favour of the contractors, but not that of the evacuees,” he said, demanding that a fresh survey must be conducted to revise the list of evacuees and make payment to all the eligible as per the relief and rehabilitation package.
Former MP from Rajamahendravaram Undavalli Arun Kumar wondered why the rate paid to the evacuees of the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project be extended to that of the Polavaram project. “The State government is giving step-motherly treatment to the evacuees of the Polavaram project. Interestingly, it is trying its best to protect the interests of the contractors, for whom it has taken the responsibility of the project execution,” he said.
President of the YSR Congress district unit, Kurasala Kannababu, said even as the Ministers and the Chief Minister were making statements about the completion of the Polavaram project by 2018, there was no single mention about the evacuees. “The Cabinet is discussing the issue of rate revision to the contractors time and again, but it has not even discussed once about the evacuees,” he observed. President of the BJP’s district unit, Y. Malakondaiah, felt that the project should be executed directly by the Central government for its early completion and to render justice to all the evacuees. He said that the State government made repeated requests to the Centre seeking the execution responsibility of the project. Secretary of the CPI district, Tatipaka Madhu, presided over the session in which district secretary of the CPI(M), D. Seshu Babji, Congress leader Nulukurthi Venkateswara Rao and others were present.
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The government is trying its best to protect the interests of the contractors.
Undavalli Arun Kumar
Former MP