CM promises to felicitate officials who save money to exchequer 

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy directed the officials to give top priority to complete the Polavaram project. He enquired about the present status of the project and period of completion. He said if there is any instance of awarding works on nomination quoting high price, the state govt will opt for reverse tendering to save money to the exchequer. He asked officials to provide details of the works.The Chief Minister conducted a review on irrigation works at his camp office here .

Giving details of the projects, Principal secretary of irrigation Sasibushan Kumar said the state govt spent Rs 11,537 cr so far on Polavaram project and the central govt has to reimburse Rs 4,810 cr. The official said another Rs 12000 cr necessary for completion of civil works Rs 27000 cr towards R&R package. The Chief Minister made it clear that he would not tolerate corruption at any stage and appealed the officials to furnish details of excess rates in works. He said that he would felicitate the officials who could save 20 per cent of project cost by revealing the irregularities.

The Chief Minister asked the officials to prepare plans to utilise the Godavari water going waste into the sea. He[PR1]  said major portion of Godavari water going waste into the sea during rainy season. Officials should prepare proposals to divert the Godavari water to other parts of the state by storing the water in nearby reservoirs and tanks. He asked the officials to study the possibility of utilising the Buckingham canal for diverting Godavari water.

The Chief Minister asked the officials to prepare a report on priority projects in the state. He said that he is going to inspect the  Polavaram project works soon and convene a detailed review meeting on irrigation on June 6.