Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday attacked former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and said that the previous state government had completely grabbed the lands near the Budameru River and misused it.
“The negligence and irregularities of the previous government became a curse to the state,” Naidu said, in a veiled dig at Jagan Mohan Reddy. He stated that if the Budameru river works had been completed, the state would not have faced a calamity.
Naidu’s remarks came in light of the recent floods in Andhra Pradesh, which heavily impacted areas like Vijayawada, and claimed around 40 lives.
Naidu said that the boats were released when the Krishna River received 11.43 cusecs of water due to the floods, and it took almost 10 days to get back to normalcy. “Had the previous rulers been in power it would have taken six months or more to restore normalcy,” he added.
The Chief Minister earlier this month criticised the previous government, attributing the severity of the flood damage to their “blunders.” He emphasised that plans are in motion to prevent such calamities in the future. “The sins committed by the previous government have turned into a curse to the State,” Naidu remarked.
Maintaining that the funds released for Polavaram and Rs 990 crore from the Panchayat Raj department been diverted, Chandrababu Naidu said that the expenditure was not shown in the accounts.
“Now we need to clear the dues amounting to Rs 1,650 crore for the grain farmers and a Rs 10.5 lakh crore worth of loan to be cleared,” the Chief Minister said.
Chandrababu earlier referred to the Polavaram project as a “boon to the State,” saying that he had secured Rs 12,000 crore from the Centre to support the project, which he promised would be relaunched soon.
He also announced several benefits for Eluru, including the construction of a bridge near the Sanivarapupeta causeway with a budget of Rs 15 crore.
Chandrababu Naidu stated that the relief provided to flood victims has been met with a tremendous response. Every household is receiving financial assistance of Rs 25,000, while those residing on the first floors are being provided Rs 10,000 each.
The Chief Minister also outlined the details of the various sections and the amounts being allocated to each flood victim, including insurance claims for owners of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers.
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