Polavaram to Be Ready by 2027: CM Naidu

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has announced a schedule in the state assembly on Tuesday to complete the Polavaram irrigation project works by 2027. This, he said, would involve a cost of Rs 70,000 crore, and “ensure water for every acre of land.” This would also help avoid drought in Andhra Pradesh, the CM said while taking part in a short discussion on ‘Polavaram and other irrigation projects in the state’. Naidu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union minister for Jal Sakthi CR Patil for sanctioning Rs 12,157 crore for execution and planned completion of the Polavaram project in two years. Naidu said that in 2014-19, “We executed the Poavaram project to the extent of 72 per cent and even achieved a Guinness record for taking up 32,215 cubic meters of concrete works to lay the spill channel.” He said, “If our government continued to be in saddle after 2019, we could have completed the Polavaram project by 2020-21.” The chief minister criticised the previous government for its failure to execute the project properly. The IIT, Hyderabad, had come up with a report to this effect.” The chief minister told the house, “Based on advice from experts, we are going to erect a new D-wall, which would cost Rs 990 crore.” “Once the Polavaram project is executed at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore including the cost for head works, land acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation, it would help generate a new ayacut of 7.20 lakh acres and stabilize the additional ayacut in 24 lakh acres, with 80 tmc-ft of water going to Krishna river and 23.44 tmc-ft to the Visakhapatnam steel plant besides generation of 960 mw of hydro electric power.” On the ambitious plan of interlinking rivers and ensuring water to every acre in the state, Naidu said that given the huge cost involved, it would be good if the Centre and the state government in public-private partnership mode could execute the project, lines similar to erection of national highways.