Furore In Andhra Pradesh Assembly Over Pattiseema

AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu today promised that the state government would provide adequate water to agriculture at any cost.

Participating in the debate on the Pattiseema irrigation project in the Assembly on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that the government would give utmost importance to providing water to crops.

He expressed concern over the standing crops drying up due to non-availability of water in the Rayalaseema region. This year, 1029 TMC of water flowed into the sea, he said, adding that they would find a solution to the problem and prevent at least some of water from going into the sea.

The Chief Minister reiterated that the Polavaram project would be completed soon and that there was no question of any compromise on it.

He also said that the Handrineeva and Telugu Ganga projects have not yet been completed due to the "criminal negligence and failures" of the previous Congress government. And it would have easier had the Jalayagnam project been completed, he said.

The government had given a Rs 693-crore subsidy to fruit farmers, he said.

Earlier, the Pattiseema project issue rocked the House on the third day with the Opposition YSR Congress Party leaders raking up the issue and attacking the Telugu Desam Party government.

When the Leader of the House and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu began a debate on the Pattiseema project, the YSRCP members took to the podium and shouted slogans against the government. This prompted the ruling party members to take them on.

Though Naidu claimed that the project was aimed at catering to the water needs of the Rayalaseema region, YSRCP deputy leader Jyothula questioned the rationale behind the project being dedicated by the Chief Minister even before its completion. He accused Naidu of being non-committal and deceiving the people, and alleged irregularities in the project.

Irritated at the comments, Naidu rebutted saying that the YSRCP was coming in the way of the works. They could instead help in the completion of the project, Naidu said.

Stating that Pattiseema was taken up to prevent wastage of 1,000 TMC of Godavari waters flowing into the sea, the Chief Minister said that every acre in the Godavari districts would also get waters for irrigation.

Nehru said that his party was not against the irrigation project, but that the government needed to disclose the facts on the project. To this, Naidu said that they wanted to divert the waters to Pattiseema as completion of Polavaram would take about four years.

Naidu alleged that the former YSR regime had failed to complete the projects and had swallowed funds. Flaying the YSRCP for creating a ruckus on every issue without any knowledge of the schemes, Naidu said that his government was making every effort to ensure that not a single acre of land went dry.

He advised the YSRCP members to stop coming in the way of the projects, and that they would otherwise bite the dust.