Ramchandra Rao urges Centre to take over Polavaram project

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Congress Rajya Sabha member fromTelangana K V P Ramchandra Rao today urged the Centre to takeover the Polavaram irrigation project and ensure its earlycompletion by 2018. "I request the Central government to take over thePolavaram irrigation project immediately and expedite the workon it to ensure its completion by 2018 as envisaged earlier. "The state government is not willing to hand over theproject to the Centre for obvious reasons but the Centreshould fulfil its promise of making it a national project andensuring its completion by 2018," Rao told reporters. He said it is mandated upon the Central government tocomplete the project as it has already been declared as anational project under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. "The Centre should act fast and finish the project intime, as it is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh," he said. The consent for Polavaram Irrigation Project shall bedeemed to have been given by the successor State of Telanganaand the Central Government shall execute the project andobtain all requisite clearances including environmental,forests, and rehabilitation and resettlement norms, asmandated in Section 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act, he said. Rao had earlier moved a private member bill for amendingthe Constitution to declare a special package for AndhraPradesh, which could not be voted, it being declared as amoney bill by Rajya Sabha chairman. Rao has also written to Union Water Resources MinisterUma Bharti in this regard. He has said that Andhra Pradesh is in a very bad shapefinancially and emotionally and the only ray of hope they haveis the Polavaram National Project, which can be utilized inthe best interests of the state. "The people of AP are not able to understand about whatis happening to Polovaram Project at all ! "In the circumstances, I request you to give clarity onwhat is exactly happening on Polavaram Project and also tocomplete the Polavaram Project at the earliest, as mandated inthe A.P Reorganisation Act," he said in his letter to Bharti.PTI SKCRG