Polavaram project: Minister Ambati Rambabu blames Naidu for damage to diaphragm wall

Where is the need for former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to take up the project when it is up to the Central government to execute it, asks Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu

Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu on July 29 (Saturday) reiterated that the diaphragm wall in the Polavaram project was swept away due to the “inefficiency of the TDP government.”

Former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu should own responsibility for it, Mr. Rambabu said while addressing the media here.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had faulted the “shoddy manner” in which the TDP government dealt with the project.

What prompted Mr. Naidu to undertake the project when it was a national project to be completed by the Central government in compliance with the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Minister questioned.

The diaphragm wall should be built only after completing the spillway, diverting the river and constructing the upper and lower cofferdams, but this was not followed, he said.

As a consequence, the diaphragm wall, which cost the State exchequer about ₹400 crore, was damaged beyond repair. What was ridiculous was the erection of crest gates even before the project was completed, he said.

The Minister alleged that Mr. Naidu got the project awarded to contractors close to him and swindled huge sums through them.