Khammam:
The proposed Polavaram irrigation project on Godavari River in coastal Andhra Pradesh would immensely benefit the state as it would save the water currently going into the sea, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said in Khammam today.
Strongly defending the project, which is opposed by Telangana supporters on the ground that it would adversely affect the region, Kiran Reddy said the project would help not just coastal districts but other regions as well.
Referring to the objections raised by neighbouring Orissa and Chattisgarh to the project, Kiran Reddy said the government was holding talks with the two states to make them agree to the multi-purpose project.
He also asserted that the design of the project would not be changed as demanded by TRS and others as over Rs 4,000 crore have already been spent on it.
The government was keen on giving the best relief and rehabilitation package to the affected people, he said.
Conceived in the pre-Independence era, the Polavaram project is said to have the potential to bring over four lakh hectares of land under cultivation and generate 1,000 mw of hydel power.
Kiran Reddy was speaking to reporters on the last day of his three-day 'Indiramma Bata' (on the path of Indiramma) mass-contact programme in Khammam district.
Noting that the government was spending about Rs 2,600 crore on various welfare schemes, he said the programme was aimed at ascertaining whether the benefits effectively reached the targeted beneficiaries.