Congress senior leader and MLC Palvai Govardhan Reddy on Wednesday strongly criticized irrigation minister Ponnala Lakhsmaiah for taking a delegation of Seemandhra MPs to meet Jairam Ramesh (Union minister for Environment and Forests) over the Polavaram Irrigation Project.
Talking to media persons at the CLP office, the senior Congress leader stated that Ponnala, who professes to be a pro-Telangana activist, was now acting on the behest of Seemandhra leaders. He further accused Ponnala of having failed to protect the interests of Telangana farmers.
Reacting on the Union Environment and Forests Ministry's letter to the state government seeking to know why no public hearing was held and no clearance sought for additional components of the Polavaram project, Palvai said that the project would submerge about 250-350 villages in the Telangana region.
He said environmentalists like Prof. T Shivaji Rao and eminent engineers like T Hanumantha Rao are of the opinion that a barrage would be more suitable for the project instead of a dam.
Palvai also stated that he had deep suspicions over the commitments of the members of the cabinet in getting the "National Project" status to the Pranahita and Chevella projects in the Telangana region.