Polavaram project is synonymous with Y S Rajasekhar Reddy: Andhra CM

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has no moral right to speak on the Polavaram project, which is synonymous with Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has said.

Accusing the TDP of not following the technical order in the construction of the project, Reddy said it ended up in the diaphragm wall getting washed away due to floods.

TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu has no locus standi to talk about the project as he never spoke about it between 1995 and 2014, the Chief Minister said in a statement on Thursday night.

Intervening in a discussion on the project in the Assembly, he made these remarks, dismissing the propaganda' by media houses which found fault with the height of the project.

The CM asserted the project will be built to its original height of 45.7 metres but in the first phase it would be limited to 41.15 metres owing to technical reasons and the safety of the dam.

Incidentally, Reddy is critical of the media houses which are projecting Naidu as the one who had championed the project and criticising the government for the delay.

Displaying the designs of the project in the House, the CM explained that Naidu's regime did not follow the technical order in building the spillway first but went ahead in a haphazard manner.

"The TDP government first took up the works using the project as an ATM and not the first needed priority works for the project sustenance," he alleged.

Further, he observed that the technical necessity of constructing the spillway across the 2,400-metre breadth of the river first, upper cofferdam at the upper stream and then the lower cofferdam in the lower stream prior to the construction of the diaphragm were not followed.

Due to these anomalies, Reddy noted that scour pits formed in the main dam area, even the incomplete spillway construction was faulty, including leaving a 400-metre gap on either side.

The Chief Minister alleged that former contractors of the project were related to Ramoji Rao and TDP leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu.

Moreover, Reddy said the revised estimates of the project cost were approved by the Central Cabinet, highlighting that he met with the Prime Minister recently to request him to release an ad-hoc amount of Rs 15,000 crore to proceed with the project.