VIJAYAWADA: Irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu on Saturday refuted media reports that stakeholder states Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana have sought a joint survey on Polavaram project at a meeting held by the centre.
Addressing media at YSRC party’s central office here, he held opposition Telugu Desam and its friendly media responsible for circulating these false reports. He said the reality is that Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana had expressed doubts about suffering losses whenever there are floods due to Polavaram flood. This apart, these states had filed a petition in Supreme Court in this regard.
On orders of the apex court, central government had arranged a meeting to resolve the matter. The irrigation minister maintained that everything has been made clear at this meeting to the stakeholder states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana. The centre also made it clear that there is no need to conduct a joint survey on the project and there is no real threat to Bhadrachalam from Polavaram.
Rambabu maintained that the Central Water Commission had cleared the Polavaram project between 2009 and 2011 after a careful study of all aspects. He said there is no truth in the slanderous propaganda being circulated by TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu that Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana have sought a joint survey.
The minister recalled that Chandrababu Naidu had made more than 600 promises before being elected as chief minister of AP in 2014. But he never fulfilled any of these promises. “But the Jagan government has fulfilled 98 percent of its promises,” he declared.
He termed the Amaravati padayatra as not of farmers but of fat people related to TD who are misleading the public by wearing green scarves.
Rambabu said neither Harish Rao nor Telangana government, along with KCR, have any moral right to point fingers at the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. He challenged Harish Rao to come to AP for knowing the truth about the development taken up by Jagan government at the field level.
