Rajath Kumar joins Polavaram issue

HYDERABAD: The fresh round of debate on Polavaram irrigation project raged on for the second straight day on Wednesday with more fuel added to the issue from the Telangana side. On Tuesday, ministers from both the Telugu states were locked in an intense war of words after Telangana's Puvvada Ajay sensationally claimed that Polavaram project was the reason for the Godavari floods in his state. It evoked sharp response from two AP ministers, Botsa Satyanarayana and Ambati Rambabu besides former minister Perni Nani.

On Wednesday, Rajath Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of the Telangana Irrigation Department, returned the volley with an even heavier statement. He claimed that the Polavaram project, being constructed by the Andhra Pradesh government, would submerge a whopping one lakh acres of land besides the temple town of Bhadrachalam along with its 'parnashala'. Rajath Kumar's startling statement came during a high-level meeting he held to review the recent heavy rains and the floods situation in the state.

Projects like SRSP, Kadem and Kaleshwaram besides threat to the normal life in Bhadrachalam were among the key issues taken up for review.

Speaking on this occasion, Rajath Kumar said that the Polavaram project would have a serious negative impact on Telangana as close to one lakh acres of land would be inundated by its backwaters. "Besides causing heavy crop loss, it will also pose a serious threat to historical places located on the Telangana side. Even Bhadrachalam and its parnashala will be under a sheet of water," he asserted.

Several letters were written to the Centre for conducting a detailed study on the impact of the Polavaram backwaters but there has been no response so far, the senior official lamented.

If Puvvada Ajay Kumar stirred the hornet's nest on Polavaram on Tuesday, the senior bureaucrat only raised the heat further on Wednesday with an even more explosive statement. In all likelihood, Rajath Kumar's posers will be greeted with a strong reply from either his Andhra Pradesh counterpart or someone prominent in the administration.