Polavaram mismanagement caused loss of 70k crore: Naidu

Vijayawada: Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said the state incurred a loss of 70,000 crore because of the “mismanagement and unmindful decisions” of the previous YSRCP govt on the Polavaram project. The amount is just a conservative estimate and can go up to more than 1 lakh crore, he added.
During an interaction program, a woman from Penumaka village asked Naidu why a deadline has not been given on completion of Polavaram project in the white paper released by him.The chief minister gave an elaborate answer, explaining the various technicalities involved in the project. He said the Polavaram is a very complex project where the entire course of Godavari river is diverted to build the dam.
“The diaphragm wall is a sensitive structure which needs to be constructed by going deep through the soil layers till hard rock is touched beneath. In order to construct the diaphragm wall and earth-cum-rock fill dam on top of it, two coffer-dams need to be constructed on up and down streams to arrest the water inflow and seepage. The coffer-dams and diaphragm wall works were taken up together by the previous TDP regime. By the time the construction reached a crucial phase where the gaps in the upper coffer-dam were required to be closed to arrest the water flow, there was change of regime and YSRCP came to power,” Naidu explained.
In the name of reverse tendering, the YSRCP govt changed the contractor ignoring repeated requests from the Union govt and Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), Naidu said. “As there was no contractor to execute the works for about 18 months, the 2020 floods damaged the coffer-dam and the diaphragm wall. Had the contractor been continued and gaps in the upper coffer-dam been filled, Polavaram project would have been completed by now,” he added.
In the name of saving 500 crore, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy caused a loss of 70,000 crore to the state as on today, which is likely to increase further. International experts have now been engaged to assess the extent of damage. “A revised actionplan can be prepared only after a detailed technical study by the experts and then only a clear timeline can be given as to when the project will be completed,” Naidu said. He appreciated the woman for asking the question, adding that everyone should discuss this issue and the huge loss that happened due to the damage caused to the project by the YSRCP govt’s decisions.