Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) YS Jaganmohan Reddy called on Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at the latter’s residence in New Delhi on Monday (22 August).
CM Jagan urged PM Modi to help complete the Polavaram project’s construction at the earliest by approving the revised cost estimates of Rs 55,548.87 crore as already approved by the Technical Advisory Committee.
AP CM requested the Prime Minister to reimburse Rs 2,900 crore, which the state government spent on the Polavaram Project.
He also urged PM Modi to clear the bills on a fortnightly basis like in other national projects and not component-wise and provide Rs 10,000 crore on an ad-hoc basis for the project’s construction, reports The Economic Times.
The Polavaram Irrigation Project is a multipurpose project located on the river Godavari near Ramayyapeta village in Polavaram Mandal, where the river emerges from the last range of the Eastern Ghats and enters the plains in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari District.
This project aims to develop a total irrigation potential of 4,36,825 ha, generate 960 MW of hydropower, provide drinking water to a population of 28.50 lakh in 611 villages, and divert 80 TMC of water to the Krishna river basin.
The Polavaram Irrigation Project has been designated a National Project under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The Polavaram Irrigation project missed its April 2022 deadline. However, 77 per cent of project headworks, 93 per cent of right main canal works, and 72 per cent of left main canal works have been completed thus far.