Addressing the media on Monday, Naidu accused former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of undermining his efforts for the construction of the Polavaram project. He highlighted his achievement of merging seven flood-prone mandals of Telangana to Andhra Pradesh, a move approved by the central government.
Naidu claimed that 72 per cent of the project work had been completed during the TDP regime when Polavaram was granted national status and included in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014.
He noted that the spillway is designed to discharge 15 lakh cusecs of water. Criticizing the Jagan administration, Naidu said the reverse bidding process and changes in agencies and workers had disrupted progress, leaving the diaphragm wall unprotected.
“A great example is when a useless person enters politics,” Naidu said, adding that Jagan Reddy made unforgivable mistakes and hampered the project. Naidu mentioned that he had reviewed the project 100 times and visited the site 30 times.
He said repairs now cost Rs 446 million and Rs 900 million is needed for the diaphragm wall. He lamented that the project could have been completed in 2020 if previous work patterns had continued.
