The Chief Minister’s Office on Friday, received a communication from the UPA Chairperson and AICC president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, assuring the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh that the Polavaram project would be accorded national project status soon.
In the letter to Chief MinisterK Rosaiah, Ms Gandhi said, “I have received your letter. I am happy to lean that necessary clearances that the State government had sought from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest have been granted for the Indirasagar Polavaram Project. You have also requested that the declaration of the project as a national project be expedited. I have asked my office to follow up the matter”.
Responding to the gesture from UPA chairperson, Chief Minister Rosaiah thanked Sonia for her positive response and assurance. The CM, further discussed the issue with the Chief Secretary, S V Prasad, and top officials at Secretariat today.
The Chief Minister, in his letter to Ms Sonia Gandhi, said that the Polavaram project, when completed, would irrigate 2.91 lakh hectare, generate hydro power with installed capacity of 960 MW. It would also supply 23.44 TMC of water to Visakhapatnam city and drinking water facility to 540 villages. It would also stabilize the Godavari delta. In addition to benefits in the Coastal Andhra region, the Polavaram lift irrigation scheme would benefit 1.33 lakh acres in Khammam district in the Telangana region, he added.
According national status to the project, it would make it eligible for enhanced Central assistance to the tune of 90 percent ensuring its timely completion. The Chief Minister requested that as the Polavarm project had all the statutory clearances, he urged the Centre to provide national status to the project without any further delay.