Central government seems to be delaying Polavaram Project with its unclear strategy. The Multi-Purpose Project is recognized as ‘National Project’ in Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act and accordingly, Center had to bear the 90% expenses of the project. But then, the project has not moved anywhere due to meager allocations in this two years.
[m9ad]
A couple of months back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a Note on Polavaram file that the state government should bear 30% of the Project Cost. Andhra Pradesh strongly objected to that and later Union Water Resources Ministry sent a file to PMO recommending 90% expenses to be borne by the center.
But then, Prime Minister did not sign the file till date. Moreover, the center maintained that NABARD will be giving a loan to support the project. However, there is nothing in writing about who will have to repay this loan. The state government is asking the center to put it in writing so that there will not be any problem in the future.
Polavaram Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project comes with a total capacity of 194 TMC which will irrigate about Five Lakh Acres over Two Crops Every year. The Project will also generate 960MW of Hydel Power which is the cheapest available power in the market right now. Hence the project is said to be very beneficial for the state and is treated as the ‘Life Line’.
