Pattiseema not possible : YSRCP

Hyderabad, March 30, 2015:Questioning the veracity of the statement of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that the Pattiseema project will be completed within one year, YSR Congress has said that all stake holders should be taken into confidence on the issue and the claim that the State is championing the cause of Rayalaseema is a fallacy. “The Chief Minister is more bothered about the 22 % excess quoted in the tenders and not in providing waters to the arid Rayalaseema region as Pattiseema project is in legal tangle and it cannot be completed in one year. On the other hand, it will strengthen the argument of the people who are opposing Polavaram as the two projects run parallel to each other. Instead it should bring all stakeholders together and be categorical about the project, the status of Polavaram and the permissions acquired so far,” party spokesperson K Parthasarathi told reporters here. “It seems Pattiseema is being taken up in a hurry only for kickbacks with the excess quote in tenders as the process cannot be completed in one year and on the other Polavaram, which has attained national status stands to be ignored. To allay fears, the State has to categorically announce as to how it will complete the project and at what cost and an assurance on Polavaram, “ The State has to be specific on both the projects, as Pattiseema is being opposed by not only the main opposition party, but also by TDP leaders and farmers’ associations who fear that it will affect the Polavaram project. Chandrababu Naidu stating that he is the championing the cause of Ralayaseema has no meaning. While he was Chief Minister for nine years, little did he do to bring water to Rayalaseema. In 2004 TDP MPs and MLAs had asked Chandrababu Naidu to assure people on Polavaram, but he refused. “We are seeing how BJP at the Centre is taking all parties into confidence to push through the Land Acquisition Bill, but TDP is behaving in an authoritarian manner and is going ahead with Pattiseema project, which is redundant vis-à-vis Polavaram only for the sake of kickbacks and ignoring the legal tangles it would face in the days to come. There are cases pending in area covered under right bank canal in an extent of 1,700 acres and some of the area covered is a forest land for which no clearance is obtained from the Centre. Yet, the State is rushing through the project as it is satisfied with the 22 % excess amount quoted in the tenders, he said. Two aqueducts are to be constructed for the project and there is no ground work for them. Pattiseema will be completed and water will come to Rayalaseema only if there is storage capacity and this would come only if Galeru Nagari, Handri Neeva and Pulichintala projects are completed, he said.