Polavaram being sidelined for the sake of Banakacherla project, says Sharmila

APCC president Y. S. Sharmila addressing the media in Vijayawada on April 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: G. N. Rao

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila on Saturday (April 26, 2025) alleged that the Polavaram project was being sidelined in favour of the Godavari-Banakacherla project.

Speaking to the media after interacting with the project-displaced victims, who met her at Andhra Ratna Bhavan and poured out their woes on account of non-payment of the promised compensation to them, Ms. Sharmila said tribals gave up their lands for Polavaram project, which was the result of the sacrifices of 1.6 lakh families, but justice continued to elude them.

She said the project was split into two phases for no reason and its height reduced from 45.7 metres to 41.15 metres, and blamed former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for it. She said the survey conducted for R&R of the displaced population was fraught with mistakes and demanded a fresh survey.

She alleged that the R&R package provided so far lacked even the basic housing facilities, in some parts drinking water smelled like kerosene, while the land received by the displaced was of no use, and they did not have proper ownership rights.

She said only 11,000 families had received partial compensation, which was far from adequate, and 95,000 families still awaited justice.

She alleged that both Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu lacked sincerity in addressing the problems of the project-displaced families.

She said Polavaram was a gravity-based project designed to irrigate 30 lakh acres with 194 TMC water. The idea was to generate 900 MW power and provide drinking water to 20 lakh people. “Works on both left and right canals were completed under the YSR regime,” she said, adding that in 2014, Polavaram was declared a national project, but the BJP-led government at the Centre had neglected it in the last 10 years. “BJP has effectively weakened the project and none of our 25 MPs spoke about this,” she said.

Ms. Sharmila accused Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy of betraying people on Polavaram project. “Now, the TDP-led coalition government is doing the same by agreeing to the reduced height, which is part of the BJP conspiracy to save money,” she said.

She said Mr. Naidu, as an Opposition leader in the past, expressed concern over the fate of the project and said reducing the height would be a disaster. “Today, he is doing exactly the same,” she said.