Polavaram, Other Projects To Finish

The state government was engrossed in discussions today as to how tenders could be called for the construction of the contentious Polavaram and Pranahitha-Chevella projects which are on top of the irrigation department's agenda.

The state government has already asked the Central government to consider granting National Project status to the cited projects in order to facilitate a better flow of funds to expedite their completion.

The blueprint of Polavaram project was drawn in 1943, and since then it has had to face a lot of hurdles at various stages.

Besides the Pranahitha-Chevella and Polavaram projects, as many as 43 irrigation projects, at an estimated cost of Rs. 25,000 crores, are pending, and need to be urgently taken up by the state. These projects were extensively discussed at the review meeting which was chaired by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at the Secretariat today.

Major Irrigation Minister P Sudharshan Reddy stated that irrigation was a high-priority subject, and that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government was taking steps to extend maximum irrigation facilities to the farmers of Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister was pressed upon by the Minister on the need to complete the cited projects within a span of 2 years.

Sudharshan Reddy took pains to point out that given the resources and funds made available by the Centre, the Chief Minister was positive about the completion of the projects.

When asked about the contractors' arrears, the Minister replied that an amount of Rs. 1,500 crores was outstanding, and would be cleared within 2 months.

The state government was also contemplating concentrating on Jalayagnam, another brain-child of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. The government has, so far, incurred an expenditure of Rs. 50,000 crores over the Jalayagnam project, and has drawn flak for the alleged over-expenditure and irregularities involved in the irrigation project. (INN)