Ambati alleges previous TDP regime for damage to PIP diaphragm wall

By Our Special Correspondent

Alleging that the previous TDP government was responsible for the Polavaram irrigation project diaphragm wall, Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu said that even though they ordered construction of cofferdams and diaphragm wall, it was not done and now it is not done. It became a curse for the project.

Refuting the opposition's allegations of delay in the construction, Rambabu, through the presentation of the ongoing work, alleged that the diaphragm wall was constructed before the cofferdam and it was constructed only for the benefit of the then ruling party leaders.

The construction of the diaphragm wall was taken up after the people of 45 submerged villages under the project asked the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) not to go ahead with the construction work.

Out of the 60 flooded villages under the backwater of the project, the then government had rehabilitated only 15 villages and said that a diaphragm wall would be constructed as part of the earth come rock fill dam Downstream cofferdams.

Rambabu responded to the criticism of changing the contract company of the project. It was the previous government that changed the original contractor and entrusted the construction of the national project to Navayuga through nomination. After YSRCP came to power, the construction cost was saved by 12.6 percent through reverse tendering.

He stated that the recent study conducted by the IIT-Hyderabad team of experts on this project had also wronged the previous government. Rambabu said that the YSRCP government has completed the spillway and spill channel.

He said that while the previous government spent only Rs 200 crore on rehabilitation and rehabilitation, our government has spent Rs 1,500 crore on it so far. Rambabu accused the TDP government of focusing on project works instead of rehabilitation for their selfish interests.

During the visit of the opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu to the flood affected areas, Rambabu said that the TDP chief is trying to politicize the floods. “Would any politician visit flood affected areas with party flags and leaders? This is nothing but a mudslinging attempt on the Chief Minister,” alleged Rambabu.