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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will be touring areas where residents displaced by the Polavaram Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh live. The tour, scheduled for August 16 and 17 is an attempt by the CPI(M) to review problems facing local communities in the state.
The Polavaram Irrigation Project is the brain child of Andhra Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu who has time and again put forth the case that once completed, the Polavaram irrigation project would be a lifeline for farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
However, the TDP has come under fire for not ensuring relief and rehabilitating those displaced by the Polavaram project. In March 2025, CM Chandrababu stated that the rehabilitation for those displaced would be completed by 2027. Since the commencement of its construction in 2004, the project’s oustees haven’t received the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) packages due to them.
“Despite the ongoing Polavaram works, the rehabilitation of the displaced families is moving at a snail’s pace and the promised R&R package has not been delivered, and the colonies constructed by the government lack basic amenities,” the CPI(M) said in a statement.
CPI(M)’s national general secretary MA Baby will arrive in Rajahmundry airport on August 16 and travel to Devipatnam in the Rampachodavaram region to visit resettlement colonies at Penikelapadu, Indukuru, and Talluru while John Brittas will travel to Vijayawada and meet residents in Jeelugumilli and Buttayigudem mandals of Eluru district. The following day, both the leaders will jointly tour Chinturu, VR Puram, Kunavaram, and Etapaka mandals.