Commoner questions AP CM about Polavaram

Accountability is the need of the hour for good governance. When citizens openly question the government about its decisions and plans in public before the media, leaders will start feeling the pressure to meet their expectations. One such instance came to light today morning in Andhra Pradesh.

It is a known fact that AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has addressed a public gathering in Penumaka village of Mangalagiri constituency just a while ago on the eve of roll out of NTR Bharosa pension scheme. During the tete-a-tete with the public there, Naidu encountered a surprise question from one of the person who attended the meeting.

A lady questioned why the completion date of Polavaram project was not mentioned in the White Paper that was released by the government of Andhra Pradesh last week. Naidu immediately appreciated the lady’s cleverness and clarified to everyone on why they haven’t mentioned about the deadline for completion of the historic project.

Naidu explicitly informed about the technical details and nitty-gritty about the condition of the pivotal diaphragm wall and coffer dam of Polavaram project and explained how Jagan Mohan Reddy’s reverse tendering badly impacted its progress. He said that the date of completion will be informed after the magnitude of the damage caused to the project gets completed by the special engineer team from USA and Canada

Naidu’s experience and knowledge came into play immediately after the lady questioned about the missing date in the white paper and the way he detailed the public about the project deserves huge appreciation. Moreover, the incident also highlights that never ever in the last five years, the then CM YS Jagan or his ministers spoke with such clarity about the lifeline project of Andhra Pradesh.