Veligonda Project will be commissioned in September, 2023: YS Jagan

PRAKASAM : YS Jagan also promised that Ambedkar's statue would be unveiled on April 14 in Vijayawada.PRAKASAM: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday announced that the long-awaited Veligonda project would be commissioned by September 2023. He unveiled bronze statues of his father and former Chief Minister Dr. YS Rajashekar Reddy and former Darsi MLA Buchepalli Subba Reddy in Chimakurthy.

Addressing the gathering on this occasion, he stated that YS Rajashekar Reddy had started the project, completed construction of 8.74 km of the second tunnel's 118.78 km stretch and was working on 11.58 km of the first tunnel's 18.8 km of length. He added that between 2014 and 2019, Chandrababu Naidu government had only completed 4.33 km and 2.35 km of work in both tunnels.

Stating that the project would be dedicated to the nation in September next year, YS Jagan declared that he would go to the next elections only after completing the Veligonda Project.

Referring to the unveiling of the statues of late YSR and Subba Reddy, the Chief Minister said that great leaders would live in people's hearts forever. He recalled the welfare schemes undertaken by the YSR administration, such as free power to farmers, fee reimbursement and Aarogyasri. He asserted that his (Jagan's) government had also delivered 95 per cent of the promises mentioned in the party's election manifesto over the last three years.

YS Jagan also promised that Ambedkar's statue would be unveiled on April 14 in Vijayawada.

In order to support the granite industry, the Chief Minister announced that a slab system would be put in place. Under this system, single-blade processing units in the Prakasam District that purify raw granite up to 22 cubic metres per month will receive Rs 27,000 per month and multi-blade processing units will receive Rs 54,000 per month. The amounts allocated for single and multi-blade granite processing machines in the Srikakulam and Rayalaseema regions are Rs 22,000 and Rs 44,000.

He claimed that, as promised during his padayatra, the administration had already issued a GO in this regard, intending to benefit more than 7,000 units. The units were put at risk, he claimed, when Chandrababu Naidu withdrew the plan in 2016 even after the slab system was implemented by the YSR administration.

In addition, the Chief Minister announced that the previous tariffs of Rs 6.3 and Rs 6.7 per unit would be reduced to Rs 2 per unit for small granite units. The state government will be responsible for paying an annual sum of Rs 350 crore as a result of the slab system and the decrease in electricity costs.

Additionally, he committed to providing Rs 20 crore for the construction of a new Zilla Parishad structure in Chimakurthy and to renaming Mogigundla lake in Thullur Mandal as Buchepalli Subba Reddy Reservoir.