BJP Leaders to Review Polavaram Project Progress on July 16

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh has announced a visit to the Polavaram Multipurpose Project on July 16 to assess its progress and reiterate its importance as a national irrigation project. The delegation will be led by state BJP president P. V. N. Madhav and will include Union Minister Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, State Health Minister Y. Satya Kumar Yadav, and other senior party leaders.

At a press conference in Vijayawada on Tuesday, BJP state spokesperson Mullapudi Renuka alleged that successive governments had delayed the project's completion. She noted that the proposal was first made in 1941 by irrigation engineer Venkata Krishna Iyer during the Madras Presidency. However, repeated surveys, revised estimates, and tribunal proceedings kept the project pending for decades, leading to significant cost escalation. Renuka also claimed that the previous YSR Congress Party government's reverse tendering policy slowed construction and damaged the diaphragm wall.

Renuka credited the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for granting national project status to Polavaram, which facilitated statutory clearances, financial support, and the establishment of the Polavaram Project Authority. She added that the project has gained momentum under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments at both the Centre and in Andhra Pradesh.

Referring to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's announcement to supply Godavari water to Anakapalli by August 14, Renuka appealed to BJP workers from Eluru, East Godavari, and West Godavari districts to participate in the July 16 visit.