Visakhapatnam: Ministerfor Water Resources Nimmala Rama Naidu mentioned that Polavaram project will be completed by December 2027 and the government would take all steps towards this direction.

Speaking at a media conference held here on Friday in the presence of Bheemili MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao, he said that the construction of the diaphragm wall that started in January this year will be completed by December.

He alleged that 72 per cent of the Polavaram project work was completed by 2019, while the YSRCP government had completed only three percent of the work in their five years of tenure.

The Water Resources Minister explained that the coalition government had completed more than six per cent of work in just a year. He lashed out at the previous YSRCP government for misusing the funds given for the displaced families for Polavaram project.

The minister opined that if the Polavaram left main canal was completed in YSRCP’s tenure, the project water would have reached North Andhra by now.

Further, Rama Naidu said that the Banakacharla project is being proposed to use the water that merges into the sea. He said that the project is being designed to use the waste water getting into the sea.

He mentioned that about 80 percent of Vamsadhara-Thotapalli reservoir work is completed and the project will be dedicated to the people soon. Further, he stated that the Nagavali-Champavathi Rivers will be linked. Rama Naidu criticised YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for talking about the benefits of the neighbouring state due to lack of understanding of the Banakacharla project.

He criticised that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has become frustrated and is talking like a person who ‘lost his mind’. He demanded that such people be declared ‘unfit’ for politics.

He said that the loss to the state during Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule between 2019 and 2024 was greater than the loss caused due to the state bifurcation. He alleged that he had never seen such a selfish Opposition leader before and that his rule had resulted in a huge loss to the state. Corporators PV Narasimham, leaders Lodagala Apparao, coalition leaders G Appala Naidu, Ganta Nooka Raju, P Venkatrao and N Satyanarayana were present.