*Chandrababu claiming false credit for Polavaram*

Rajahmundry, September 1: Former MP Margani Bharat said Chandrababu Naidu, who “stole his father-in-law’s chair in 1996 and votes in 2024, is now stealing credit for the work done by YSR and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Polavaram.” Speaking at the YSRCP office in Rajahmundry, he said not a single drop is presently flowing to Anakapalli by gravity from the Polavaram reservoir. Godavari water is being lifted through Purushothapatnam, routed towards Yeleru and branded as “Polavaram water.” He recalled that YSR inaugurated the first phase of the Thota Venkatachalam Pushkara Lift Scheme near Purushothapatnam on March 14, 2008, completed nearly 90% of the Right Main Canal and 70% of the Left Main Canal, and transformed Polavaram into an executing project.

Bharat said Chandrababu once mocked YSR’s Jalayagnam as “Dhanayagnam” but is now conducting inauguration ceremonies on works created by YSR. He said Polavaram must operate at its full 45.72-metre level for gravity benefits to reach North Andhra, whereas the present framework has been restricted to 41.15 metres. He said YSRCP secured clearance for around Rs. 48,000 crore, while Chandrababu accepted a Rs. 30,436-crore framework. He demanded criminal cases over the earlier failures that led to diaphragm-wall damage and said the Jagan government completed the spillway, installed hydraulic/radial gates, advanced the Upper and Lower Cofferdams and restored momentum to the project.

He also questioned massive Left Canal cost escalations: Package-1 from Rs. 20 crore to Rs. 70 crore, Package-3 from Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 112 crore, Package-6A from Rs. 98 crore to Rs. 336 crore, Package-5/5A from Rs. 81 crore to Rs. 307 crore and Package-8/8A from Rs. 20 crore to Rs. 76 crore. Bharat said the same “credit chori” was visible in Pattiseema/Pavitra Sangamam, Veligonda, Morampudi flyover and Bhogapuram Airport. “If Chandrababu is really supplying Polavaram gravity water, let him cut the ribbon at the headworks. Gen Z will not believe these tricks,” he said.