‘Jagan Mohan a traitor to Rayalseema,’ says Chandrababu Naidu — puts spotlight on irrigation projects

He also went on to call Jagan “a traitor to Rayalaseema” and lambasted the YSRCP government for the injustice being meted out to the irrigation sector.

I am embarking on a 10-day tour covering 2500 km to visit key irrigation projects across Andhra Pradesh and interact with the affected people of my state. The people of Andhra Pradesh are deeply dissatisfied with the current regime's handling of irrigation issues, leading to…

— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) August 1, 2023

Naidu claimed that the previous TDP government had spent ₹12,411 crore between 2014 to 2019 on projects in Rayalaseema, whereas the current dispensation had allocated only ₹2,011 crore.

“We never considered caste but always went by the drought situation in the area. Jagan is a traitor to Rayalaseema,” the former chief minister said last Thursday.

It is noteworthy that both Naidu and Jagan are from the Rayalaseema district. While the former is from Chittoor, the current chief minister hails from Kadapa.

Naidu also alleged that the monthly remuneration being paid to government advisors and money spent on publicity was higher than the amount allotted to Rayalaseema over the past years.

He demanded that Jagan Mohan tender an unconditional apology for deceiving the farmers of Rayalaseema.

Related: Centre to decide water dispute as Andhra, Telangana stick to guns

Jagan ignorant, says Naidu

During one of the presentations made last week, Naidu said that the budgetary allocation for the irrigation sector during the TDP regime was 9.63 percent, while the YSRCP government had allocated only 2.35 percent. The allocation was to pay commissions to contractors, Naidu alleged.

The former chief minister contended that Jagan Mohan did not know the importance of the irrigation sector.

Observing that the chief minister had told the Assembly that steps would be initiated to supply Godavari water to Srisailam — and his Telangana counterpart too accepted the proposal — Naidu recalled that he had then made it clear that it was not possible.

Detailing the funds the TDP government had provided and their expenditure in Rayalaseema, Naidu said that the ongoing work of various irrigation projects were enough to term Jagan Mohan a traitor to the region.

“No other chief minister has done such an injustice to Rayalaseema as Jagan,” he remarked.

Related: Telangana seeks to restrain AP from executing Veligonda project

Status report: 4 completed, 4 upgraded, 5 in progress

However, the YSRCP government had asserted that in the last four years, at least four irrigation projects were completed, four were upgraded, and construction of at least five other projects are in progress.

Among those completed are projects that have been pending for decades — such as the Nellore and Sangam Barrages — that will help irrigate approximately 4.85 lakh acres. These have been completed at a total cost of ₹326 crore.

Also, the first phase of the Veligonda project that will provide irrigational facilities to 4.59 lakh acres and drinking water to 1.5 million people in 29 mandals of fluoride- and drought-affected areas in Prakasam, Nellore, and Kadapa districts by diverting 43.5 TMC of floodwater from the Krishna river from the foreshore of Srisailam Reservoir and proposed storing in Nallamala Sagar Reservoir.

The first tunnel has been completed, with the second tunnel in progress. Plans are in place to fill the Nallamala Sagar by June 2024, an Irrigation Department official told South First.

The current government has built two tunnels of the Avuku Project, making it a 160-metre fold zone. Earlier, the capacity of this tunnel was 10,000 cusecs, but after the construction of the second tunnel, another 10,000 cusecs have been added which will be helpful in holding Krishna flood water. This has cost the government ₹109.58 crore. Work on a third tunnel has already begun.

Around 195 irrigation canals in Puttaparthi constituency have been filled with 3 TMCs of Handri Niva
water, effectively preventing waterlogging in 10,034 acres and supplying drinking water to over 2,43,000 people at a cost of ₹864 crore.

Besides, the Gandikota, Chitravathi, and Telugu Ganga extension projects have been upgraded, and the Brahmam Sagar leakage repair was has also been taken up, the Irrigation Department official stated.

Additionally, Handri Niva, Madakasira, Kuppam Branch canal, Pothireddypadu, and HNSS canal projects are all in progress.

Related: Why are Telangana, AP fighting over Krishna river waters?

YSCRP takes Naidu head on

“It is clearly evident from GOs 22 and 63 issued by the TDP government during the 2014-19 period, that contracts to build irrigation projects were awarded through a nomination system instead of floating a tender and following the regular bidding system.

“This meant that contracts went to associates of Chandrababu Naidu and other capitalist cronies and not to deserving companies,” a senior YSRCP functionary told South First.

He explained, “This adversely impacted the overall quality of the project, scope as well as timeline. The TDP, for their vested interest, conveniently broke the project work into parts and assigned separate contracts for each work. This led to a huge bump up in costs under the guise of GO 22 and 63. So, the YSRCP government’s first job when we came to power was to undo the wrong and start afresh.”

The YSRCP government began reassessing the technicalities of all projects and launched a reverse tendering system.

“To weed out corruption, the first step taken by the government was the implementation of reverse tendering procedures. This change in the tendering process resulted in significant cost savings, including ₹865 crore in the Polavaram project alone, and a total of ₹2,090 crore from all projects combined,” a senior official of the state irrigation department told South First.

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