Kuppam (Chittoor dist): Adverting to objections raised by Telangana about Andhra Pradesh’s plan for the Polavaram-Banakacherla project to lift water from the Godavari river, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has dismissed all the allegations surrounding the interlinking plan, calling them “baseless and politically motivated”.
Speaking to the media in Kuppam on Thursday, Naidu made it clear that the project would not harm anyone. He amplified that misinformation was being deliberately spread to mislead the public.
Recalling his efforts in the past, when he was the chief minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, Naidu pointed out that he was the one who brought the Devadula Lift Irrigation Project to Telangana. “I inspected key locations like the Srisailam project, SLBC, and the Madhava Reddy Canal before initiating the project over the Godavari River,” he said. He also mentioned that the Pushkara and Tatipudi Lift Irrigation Schemes were introduced in Andhra Pradesh under his leadership to ensure better water management.
Taking a swipe at the Yellampalli project announced during YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure, Naidu said it never saw the light of day and was marred by a major scam. He stressed that both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had a rightful share in the Godavari’s waters and could benefit greatly if just a fraction, about 200 TMC out of the 2,000 TMC that flows into the sea every year, was used efficiently. “Sharing water resources fairly can uplift the entire Telugu community,” he observed.
Naidu reiterated that he had never opposed, nor would he oppose any irrigation initiative taken up by Telangana on the Godavari River.
Speaking on social development, the Chief Minister criticised the previous government for neglecting the poor. “We are introducing model welfare programmes, but those who looted public money without helping a single poor person are now accusing us of playing politics,” he said.
The Chief Minister highlighted the P4 initiative (People, Public, Private Partnership), as an example of how communities had been coming together to support development. He shared the story of an NRI family that had benefited from past welfare schemes and had now returned to help the people of Thimmaraju Palli village through the P4 model. “That’s the kind of inspiration we want to spread. Some people may not like our progress, but we’re moving forward with the people’s support,” Naidu said. Naidu also spoke about the ‘First Step in Good Governance’ campaign, aimed at improving public service delivery. He said that party leaders and workers would go door-to-door for a month to understand people’s problems and strengthen outreach.
Criticising the previous administration, Naidu said land records were manipulated under their watch, leading to widespread disputes. “Eight out of ten public grievances are about land issues. Now blockchain technology is being used to fix that. Andhra Pradesh once had the best land record system, which was unfortunately destroyed,” he observed.
