Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari today said technical issues were the sole reason for delay in release of funds and other approvals for the Polavaram multipurpose project and asserted that politics had nothing to do with it.
In an apparent snub to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been attacking the Centre and the BJP over various issues in recent months, he said Polavaram is 'our project' and that the Centre was totally committed to completing it on time.
The Union Minister visited the project site and inspected the ongoing works this evening.
Addressing reporters on the occasion, Gadkari said escalation in project cost and the extent of land to be acquired needed to be justified.
"Land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (of displaced families) is a very crucial component of the project.
Compared to the first detailed project report,the acreage of land to be acquired has more than doubled, resulting in a steep rise in cost. We have to justify that. We have to logically convince the Union Finance Ministry on the reasons for that," Gadkari added.
He asked state Water Resources Department officials to come to New Delhi, meet officials of the Central Water Commission and his ministry and submit all documents required
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