YSRCP objects to Pattiseema GO

Hyderabad, Taking strong objection to the GO issued by TDP government for the Pattiseema lift irrigation project, YSR Congress has said that it is aimed at benefitting the inner circle of the ruling Party and is also a ploy to reduce the importance of Polavaram project.

“While the Governor in his address has said that the Polavaram project would be completed by 2018, where is the need for issuing the GO no.1 on the New Year Day sanctioning Rs 1,300 crores for the Pattiseema project which will take three years to complete,” Party leader Dr MV Mysoora Reddy, MLAs Amjad Basha and Akhila Priya told reporters here on Tuesday.

 At a time when the ex-chequer is in a poor state and salaries are being paid by using overdraft or ways and means, the whopping Rs 1,300 crores for the project is only to fill the contractors’ coffers as the project serves no purpose and it will be redundant with Polavaram project. The GO is a plan to delay the Polavaram project, which will benefit arid regions of Rayalaseema on a larger scale, as the Pattiseema lift irrigation runs parallel to Polavaram, diverting Godavari flood waters to Krishna basin, which will be contested by neighbouring states.

Tracing the pattern of recent past, floods to Godavari and Krishna would arise at the same time and how the Godavari flood waters would be stored in Krishna basin, they asked.

The GO mentions that the Pattiseema project is to cater the industrial and drinking water needs and nowhere was it mentioned about the irrigation needs to the arid region. While 5 TMC of water is sufficient for the drinking water of Hyderabad city, the GO says that 20 TMC of water would be provided for industrial and drinking water between Godavari districts and Krishna district, which clearly shows that the project is only to benefit the contractors.

This apart, there is no mention in the GO if the project is within the purview of the Godavari Tribunal or not and if water would be given to Krishna basin, they said.