Expressing concern that irrigation projects across the State have come to a grinding halt due to the “ineptitude” of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s claim to have achieved phenomenal progress in the pending projects is bewildering, given his inability to at least keep the canals in proper condition.
The interlinking of 69 rivers, mainly including the Vamsadhara, the Nagavali, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Penna, would have made Andhra Pradesh a progressive State, but Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy shattered that hope by pushing it (the rivers’ interlinking project) down his list of priorities, Mr. Naidu observed on July 27 (Thursday).
Mr. Naidu was addressing the media on the status of irrigation projects in the coastal districts, at the party office, near Mangalagiri.
The TDP supremo said that the Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi was a part of the exercise to link the rivers in the north Andhra, but it was kept on the backburner after the TDP’s exit from power.
He pointed out that the TDP government had prepared a master plan for linking the Vamsadhara and the Nagavali rivers, along with their tributaries such as Sarada, Varaha, Thandava and Yeleru.
Steps had been taken to supply water to Yeleru through the Purushothapatnam lift irrigation scheme, which was a component of the Polavaram project, he said.
Had the Godavari waters been supplied to Uttarandhra, the entire region would have become lush green, but to no avail due to the present government’s negligence in taking it forward, Mr. Naidu alleged.
Mr. Naidu said that between 2014 and 2019, the TDP government had spent ₹21,442 crore on the irrigation projects in coastal Andhra, compared to a mere ₹4,375 crore spent after 2019, when the YSRCP took the reins from the TDP.
In the last four years, 198 projects, including 96 in coastal Andhra and 102 in Rayalaseema, had been pre-closed, he said.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy owed an explanation for the “mess created by his government,” Mr. Naidu said.
The Chief Secretary, who was holding urgent review meetings to cover up the government’s failures, should instead take remedial action in a transparent manner, he added.
