Hyderabad: The Assembly, on Tuesday, once again witnessed heated arguments between AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Opposition leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on the Pattiseema project.
While the Chief Minister claimed that the Pattiseema project met the dreams of Rayalaseema farmers by utilising Krishna water from foreshore of Srisailam dam and was an important step to make AP a drought-proof state, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy criticised it saying that since the project has no storage the government was wasting Rs 1,600 crore on it.
The CM gave a statement on Pattiseema Project in the Assembly on Tuesday and said that it is the first time in India that two major rivers would be interlinked. He said the Polavaram Project will be completed by March 29, 2019. He said that by interlinking Godavari and Krishna rivers the crops in Krishna delta would be saved through timely supply of 8.8 TMC feet of water; crops worth Rs 2,500 crore would be saved.
He said that by completing this scheme Godavari water, to the extent of 80 to 100 TMC, would be diverted into the Krishna River above Prakasam barrage.
Participating in the debate on the CMs statement, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Pattiseema project will be of no use as it has no storage. He also said by the construction of Pattiseema project there will be a danger of losing Krishna water.
Reacting to this the CM said that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is more thoughtful of others instead of the interests of the state and asked Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao to conclude the debate. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy said the Telangana state is constructing Palamuru lift Irrigation scheme and due to this AP will face difficulty in getting Krishna water.
The Opposition leader said, CM Naidu has no courage to face the Telangana CM to discuss the Palamuru lift irrigation scheme fearing the latter may open cash-for-vote file. The CM Naidu said he has no fear to meet the Telangana CM in the interests of the state and added that in his 40-year long-political career he never indulged in any corrupt practices.
Mr Naidu said, “your father (YSR) ordered 20 inquiries against me and he did not find anything, I have such character”. CM Naidu said that the irrigation subject is very sensitive and it is difficult to understand without proper study. He criticised that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party MLAs did not know anything about irrigation projects.
Mr Naidu repeatedly asked Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRC MLAs whether they understood the Pattiseema and Polavaram projects. The CM said he will take classes for Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and his MLAs on Irrigation projects.
Mr Naidu said, “There is nothing wrong in learning about things which we dont know anything of, I have no hesitation to learn from others.”
CM Naidu said he will develop all constituencies irrespective of parties and asked YSRC MLAs to tell if there are any problems in their constituencies. He said that even though YSRC MLAs are opposing Pattiseema Project he will supply water to their constituencies also.
Mr Naidu said, “I will develop the constituencies represented by Opposition MLAs, because I want to win all the 175 Assembly constituencies in the next elections.” He said that MLAs should behave with responsibility. Then only they can win the next elections.
Online permissions for buildings
Starting next June, people in all 110 municipalities of AP will be able to get permission for construction of buildings and houses online.
Speaking in the Assembly on Tuesday, municipal minister P. Narayana, said the government has introduced online permission system in Vizag, Vijayawada and Guntur on an experiment basis and 750 people have got permissions online. He said that following the success in these three municipal corporations the government has decided to extend the facility to all 110 municipalities and it will be ready by next June. He said that payments for permissions can al-so be paid online and there will be no middlemen or corruption.
During question hour, Mr Narayana said elections for four municipalities — Rajam, Nellimarla, Kandukur and Rajampet — and seven municipal corporations — Greater Visakha Municipal Corporation (GVMC), Kakinada, Gu-ntur, Ongole, Kurnool, Tirupati and Srikakulam — will be held after clearance of court cases and taking other administrative measures regarding revision of voters list, identification of SC, ST, BC and women voters and reservations.
The minister said the government has issued orders upgrading Vizianagaram and Machilipatnam municipalities as municipal corporations. However, the government has not issued gazette notifications due to administrative reasons. He said once the gazette notification issued the present elected bodies of these two municipalities will be abolished. He said that the elected bodies of both the municipalities have requested the government to issue the gazette notification after the end of their tenure.
