HYDERABAD : Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has dismissed the 35-page document submitted to the Speaker by Telugu Desam deputy leader T. Devender Goud regarding the alleged Rs. 400-crore cost escalation in the Yellampalli (Sripadasagar) project as `fabricated and concocted.'

"Some of the pages of the documents have even been stolen from lower-rung officials while still others are forged or downloaded from the Internet," he alleged.

In a spirited reply to the 16-day-long debate in the Assembly on Tuesday, the Minister said the Telugu Desam's allegations were baseless and imaginary and, therefore, required no action from the Government. He, however, said the Superintending Engineer concerned had revised upwards the project's cost estimates from Rs. 1,344 crores to Rs. 1,725 crores "by a corrigendum" uploaded online even though the proposed ayacut had been increased from 1.36 lakh acres to two lakh acres.

Justifying the cost escalation, he cited the corresponding increase in the expenditure on different components of the projects such as a higher and larger barrage, steel of thicker guage, increase in the number of reservoirs from nine to 16, increase in the length of canals and distributaries and more number of structures.

Challenging the Telugu Desam to prove its charges, the Minister said the allegations were politically-motivated. "If the irrigation projects taken up under the Jalayagnam are completed, the Telugu Desam will be wiped out from the State's political scene. So, they want to stop the programme by hook or by crook," he said.

Charges rejected

Making a page-by-page comparison of the TDP's documents with the records available with the Government, Mr. Lakshmaiah rejected all the charges. Referring to the document's page one which questioned the qualifications and eligibilities of the firm selected to execute the project, he said it had the required experience in construction of irrigation projects apart from laying of roads.

He said the signature of the SE in page 3 was forged. Pages 6 and 7 which projected the ayacut at 2 lakh acres both before and after revision of the estimates, was fabricated. Page 13 was a printout of a downloaded copy. Page 14 was stolen from the lower- rung officials, while dates were changed in Page 15, he alleged. The remaining pages were either fabricated or stolen similarly, he added.

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