The prestigious Polavaram irrigation project is jinxed for a good 75 years. Right from its conception in 1941 during Madras Presidency days, the project has been at the receiving end from both the State and Centre.
In fact, sources reveal that the project was originally conceived much before 1941 by a Telugu engineer Sir Sonthi Venkata Rama Murthy, ICS but the project still is suffering from teething troubles. Meanwhile, the estimated cost of it has escalated from Rs. 6.5 crore in 1941 to over Rs. 16,500 crore in 2010-11.
The issue with Polavaram is apparently both funding as well as politics and some Chief Ministers have taken interest and others preferred to ignore it according to Padmasri Turlapati Kutumba Rao, who served as the Personal Secretary of Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu, the first CM of Andhra State.
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“Ultimately, the project could not achieve critical mass due to apathy of State as well as the Centre. Former CM Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy could move it a bit but there was no substantial progress,” Mr. Rao said.
Besides, the project also involves relocation and rehabilitation of over 52,000 families in AP, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha which could be another challenge for the governments concerned. Once built, the project on river Godavari , is likely to bring over seven lakh acres under irrigation in twin Godavari, Krishna and Visakhapatnam districts, besides producing 960 MW hydel energy.
Polavaram was accorded National status, yet it could not attract the attention in terms of fund allocation from the Centre. The meagre Rs. 100-crore allocation in Union Budget manifests the quantum of seriousness.
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Though Irrigation Minister D. Umamaheswara Rao has declared that the project will be completed within four years, none other than the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu responded after the paltry allocation in the Union Budget and said, “If the allocations are at this level, the project would never get completed in near future.” The officials too are thoroughly discouraged by the snail’s pace of the project. “I’ve lost hope after working for the project as superintendent engineer and consultant from 1982 till 2012. My grandchildren may see the completion of the project, if they are lucky,” said Mr. K. Haranath.
With the delay, estimated cost of the project has gone up from Rs. 6.5 crore
in 1941 to over
Rs. 16,500 crore