Polavaram, Andhra Pradesh:
There is a deceptive calm over the proposed 17000-crore rupees Polavaram irrigation project area in Andhra Pradesh. This is in sharp contrast to the high-decibel political voices for and against the project that has been in the pipeline for 60 years now.
Nageswara Rao, like many other farmers here has already lost his 2-acre land because of the digging work undertaken.
"Downstream all fields will get water. Water will be stored here and farmers will be benefited by this. They will divert water into fields instead of it going into the sea, said Nageswara Rao, a farmer.
The rusted board in place is perhaps symbolic of the money that has already been spent, reportedly to construct canals, but nothing has come of it, with vociferous objections raised by Telangana politicians and environmental concerns raised by Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
"The motive is very clear. That the dam is built at the cost of submergence of areas in Telangana only to ensure that the Godavari water is taken away permanently from the people of Telangana in the event of formation of Telangana," said K T Rama Rao, TRS leader.
The late YS Rajasekhara Reddy had lobbied for national project status for this, so that the Centre pays upto 90 per cent of the cost. His son Jagan, realising it is an emotive issue, undertook a four-day padyatra to demand implementation of the project.
"By diverting 80 TMC of Godavari water from here to Krishna, we can reduce the burden on Nagarajunasagar and Srisailam dams, by which the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions will also get benefitted," said Jaganmohan Reddy, YSR's son.
Every political party and politician from coastal Andhra Pradesh has made a noise about the need to execute the Polavaram project. But the government has demonstrated neither the political will nor the financial muscle to overcome the hurdles to the project.