Andhra Pradesh elections: TDP hopes to ride on the progress of Polavaram and Amaravati projects

VIJAYAWADA: Two major development projects, Polavaram and Amaravati, are likely to work in favour of TDP at the hustings. The TDP government had conducted hundreds of organised tours to Polavaram irrigation project and upcoming capital city of Amaravati to showcase the achievements of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
While Polavaram is considered the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati is the aspiration of the people in the state.Polavaram dam across the river Godavari not only stabilises Godavari and Krishna deltas but also provides irrigation and drinking water to the parched Rayalaseema region. Amaravati, on the other hand, is the first “own” capital of the Andhra people in the two millennia history of Andhra Desa (region).
The TDP leadership is now banking on these projects while campaigning for assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Polavaram is a massive dam under construction using modern technology while Amaravati is offering AP’s tallest buildings. Thousands of people from across the state, particularly rural and remote areas, were brought in special buses and taken on a familiarisation tour of the mega dam and upcoming capital city.
Amaravati is the first area in AP that has buildings with more than 20 floors. People have not come across such high-rise structures anywhere before in the state. Most of the visitors to Amaravati from the countryside were awe-struck on seeing huge cranes and heavy machinery working round-the-clock to construct skyscrapers. Similarly, Polavaram dam has created several records thanks to the massive earth and concrete work involved in the project.
From farmers to mechanics, clerks to officers, doctors to advocates, students to professors, the state government had targeted all sections to showcase Amaravati and Polavaram. Naidu too took legislators and senior officials to Polavaram for a first-hand assessment of the mega irrigation-cum-power project. TDP leaders believe that while welfare schemes have provided direct benefit to lakhs of families, Amaravati and Polavaram will offer indirect benefits in the form of increased agriculture output, more jobs and sustained livelihood.