The delay in execution of the Polavaram irrigation project being constructed on Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh is set to cause a burden of over Rs 28,000 crore on the state government exchequer, senior Congress MP K V P Ramachandra Rao said on Thursday.
The construction of main dam of the project which began in 2012 picked up pace only after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014 and was expected to be completed by December 2018. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed before the elections that the project would be completed to a large extent by June 2019 and parts of the project ayacut would get water from the canals through gravity.
However, during the visit to project site on May 6 to review the progress of works, Naidu expressed helplessness in supplying water by gravity this year and revised the deadline for project completion to June 2020.
