When Chandrababu Naidu boasted that he would complete the Polavaram project by 2018, many people laughed as they knew that it was just not possible.
But Chandrababu has found a way to wiggle out of the situation. How? He has raised the project cost of Polavaram to Rs 36000 crore.The estimate was Rs 16000 crore in 2011.
The revised estimate according to Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao says that the cost has gone up due to inflation and relief and rehabilitation works.
Although Polavaram has been given national status, the Centre has sanctioned only Rs 600 crore for the project in two years.
The Centre did tell Naidu that it would bear the entire expenses for Polavaram provided it is given operational control but Naidu disagreed saying that he would retain control over the project and merely send the bills to the Centre.
Therefore the Centre is not too keen on sanctioning funds either as they believe the money would go into the pockets of TDP. This revised estimate by Naidu is truly unbelievable.
How can a project’s estimate go up by Rs 20000 crore in 4 years? Is this not intended to benefit the contractors, the majority of who hail from Naidu’s community? There is no way a lukewarm Centre is going to support Polavaram’s revised budget.
The whole thing has corruption with a capital ‘C’ written all over it and Naidu can take credit for sabotaging the interests of the Andhras once again.
