Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday visited the Polavaram project site to inspect the work and held a review meeting with officials involved in the project.
During the review meeting, the Chief Minister brought some key issues to notice of the Union Minister and urged him to consider the entire project as a single component and process the bills every fortnight instead of component-wise reimbursements. Reddy said that if it happens, the state government will have a good cash flow and the work can move swiftly.
Reddy also stated that the Polavaram Project Authority’s (PPA) requests for the bills of Rs 859.59 crore has been rejected and also requested to finalize the designs related to damage that occurred in lower cofferdam and ECRF areas at the earliest to avoid delays in the construction of the project.
Further, the Chief Minister highlighted the need to move the Polavaram Project Authority office to Rajahmundry, which will ensure that the structural inspection of the work gets carried out from time to time. He asked the Union Minister to review the project once every fortnight and resolve the issues that arise from time to time. Reddy also asked Shekhawat to consider paying the compensation to the affected families through DBT.
Meanwhile, Shekhawat responded positively to the requests made by Reddy and immediately ordered his officials to chart out a specific plan on the relocation of Polavaram flood victims to resettlement colonies. He also accepted the Chief Minister’s proposal to provide compensation through a direct cash transfer scheme along with a proposal to shift the PPA office to Rajahmundry. He agreed to review the project work every fortnight for the next three months and directed the officials of the project to take part in the review meetings.
Shekhawat said that the designs should be finalised immediately for burying the eroded area at Lower cofferdam, ECRF without any delay and a decision should be taken with the help of services from expert firms in the country or outside within 15 days. He said that a dashboard will be set up to view the timely progress of work.
Meanwhile, the officials have asked Shekhawat to consider the construction cost estimates for the Polavaram project at Rs 55,548.87 crore as per the 2017-18 price index and requested to include the drinking water component as part of the project.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.