*Veligonda deserves justice but not political publicity: MLA Tatiparthi*

Tadepalli, June 27: YSRCP MLA Tatiparthi Chandrasekhar said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's visit to the Veligonda Project was a publicity exercise that ignored the real issues facing displaced families and project beneficiaries. He said the TDP claims credit for a project on which it spent only Rs 10 lakh during its combined 16 years in power and failed to make any meaningful progress.
Chandrasekhar stated that Veligonda became a reality under former Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who revived the project under Jalayagnam in 2004 by allocating Rs 8,000 crore and spending nearly Rs 5,000 crore to accelerate construction. He said the project was designed to provide drinking water to 1.5 million people and irrigation to 4.75 lakh acres. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the YSRCP government completed the crucial tunnel works, and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy dedicated the project to the nation in 2024. Of the two tunnels spanning 39 kilometres, only 4.5 kilometres were completed during Chandrababu Naidu's tenure.
The MLA questioned the coalition government's failure to implement the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package. He said nearly Rs 1,000 crore should have been released over the last two years, but only Rs 300 crore was sanctioned despite announcing Rs 900 crore. Compensation remains pending for 7,350 displaced families, while another 2,500 families identified after 2019 continue to await clarity. He said releasing water without resolving the concerns of displaced families amounts to a betrayal.
Chandrasekhar also questioned why the government's promise to release water in July had not been fulfilled and why Veligonda was not completed between 2014 and 2019. He said the coalition government was neglecting Prakasam and Nellore districts while focusing on publicity instead of development. Referring to the visit of YSRCP public representatives to Amaravati, he said TDP workers attacked the delegation in the presence of the police. He asserted that YSRCP would continue exposing corruption and real estate irregularities linked to Amaravati before the people.