PPA Seeks Polavaram Expenditure Details From AP Govt

Amaravati: The Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) is all set to embark on a daunting task—scrutinising to find whether there were any irregularities during the land acquisition process in the left and right main canals of the Polavaram project, relief and rehabilitation packages given to the tribals and other displaced persons affected by the project.

PPA Member Secretary Dr RK Gupta had already sent letters to Special Collector Land Acquisition Cell for Polavaram Project, CH Bhanu Prasad and the state government seeking details of the land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement and the expenditure incurred package wise and individually made to all the people till date.

It had also come to their notice that the Polavaram Project Land Acquisition Division officials are under pressure from the State Government not to divulge any details to the PPA.

Getting into the details, the Polavaram Project Estimated expenditure for 2010-11 was Rs 16,010.45 Crores. Of this, the land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation package expenditure was around Rs 2,934.42 Crores.

For the 2013-14, the estimated expenditure was increased by Rs 57,940.86 Crores and the State government through the PPA had also sent a detailed report to the Centre for seeking consideration on August 17, 2017.

As part of this land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation package, expenditure was Rs 33, 225.74 Crores. But the PPA had in its earlier reports said that even if the packages were to be made, this estimate was not needed. It is clear that the State Government in a bid to get more commissions for the project has inflated the estimated expenditure statements.

After the TDP came to power, the TDP leaders and sympathisers including farmers from the West Godavari and Krishna districts were given compensation of around Rs 62 lakhs per acre. But if the compensation is calculated as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 rules, the amount cannot be more than Rs 20-25 lakhs per acre, which was already stated by the authorities. It is alleged that more than Rs 700 Crores were distributed among the TDP leaders and sympathisers and money had changed hands among several people in the government as favours. It is also said that TDP leaders have illegally collected the compensation benefit amounts through their benamis.

Apart from this, there has been large scale irregularities reported and money swindled during the land acquisition process from tribal lands and also in the land acquired to rehabilitate the tribals in special colonies acquired for their resettlement.

As per reports, the land to be acquired for the Polavaram Dam Right and Left canals, the lands which are to be submerged after the construction of the projects is estimated to be 1,66,423.27 acres, and so far 1,10,787 acres of land has been sourced by the state government.

The expenditure incurred by the state government for the land acquisition process is around Rs 5,398.59 Crores. More than 1,05,601 families displaced due to the project have to be rehabilitated, but till date only 3,922 families have been rehabilitated.

The state government has acquired 10, 000 acres of land as compensation for tribals who were promised land in replacement of the land given up for the project. As part of the relief and rehabilitation packages, Rs 802 crores have been spent so far.

But now the Government is again pitching for an additional Rs 7,208.89 crores to acquire 55,636 acres of land and to rehabilitate the remaining 1,01,679 families, it apparently needs another Rs 9,817 crores.

The PPA, which is now is seeking a detailed report of Polavaram Project pertaining to the land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation expenditure distributed so far and also the additional lands to be acquired and also the details of displaced families who are yet to be rehabilitated from the state government.

Based on the details furnished by the state government the PPA has decided to conduct investigations at the field level. A key official in the acquisition division of the Polavaram project pleading anonymity, said that they are under pressure from the senior administrative officials and TDP leaders not to divulge any other details to the PPA officials, except the estimated expenditure of Rs 57,940.8

With the state facing severe fund crunch and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu unable to make payments for the rest of the government backed projects , he recently sent a letter to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, demanding early reimbursement of Rs 3,722 crore for the Polavaram project on Godavari river. With the government claiming to complete the project in 2019, so far only 64 % of the overall project has been completed.

Also Read: Huge Cracks On Polavaram Project Road Rooted In Poor Quality