The Minister for Water Resources Gajendra Shekhawat told the media that the central government would bear the total cost of the Polavaram Project. The central and state governments would finish the construction within a year. The Minister said that to boost the construction review and release of funds, the Polavaram Project Authority office would be moved to Rajamahendravaram. Meanwhile, the state officials requested the Minister to fix Rs 55,548.87 crore as the project cost based on the 2017-18 price index and contain a drinking water project element in the project. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan and Shekhawat checked the development progress at the site in West Godavari district on Friday. Shekhawat told the authorities a clear plan of action should be made to evacuate the project-displaced families from their villages and move them into rehabilitation colonies. Monthly reports should be sent to the Union Ministry of Water Resources. The Chief Minister informed the Minister of the progress of the project and requested him to release funds as and when they are spent and not on a component basis. The release of funds on a component basis is slowing down work.The progress of implementation of the right and left canal works are slowing down due to the component-based controlling system and the power purchase agreement (PPA) had not uploaded some of the bills till now, the CM told the media. He said that there was a huge gap between the time when the works were completed by the state government and the time the reimbursement was by the central government. The project authority had denied issuing Rs 859.59 crore to the state government. He recommended that if the central government takes the total development as a component and releases funds once every 15 days, it will assist the state vis-a-vis the flow of cash. He additionally said the authorities had not prepared the designs and work to include the erosion area at the lower Coffer Dam and Electronic case report form (ECRF) construction area. Image Source Also read: Govt releases Rs 1154 cr grants to 4 states for Urban local bodies