Overview
- The state credited ₹300 crore to 2,351 evacuee families on Saturday as part of the Veligonda resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) programme.
- Officials say the full Veligonda scheme is planned to bring about 4.5 lakh acres under irrigation and supply drinking water to roughly 23 lakh people, with the first phase set to serve 1.19 lakh acres and four lakh people by July 31, 2026.
- Andhra Pradesh estimates the project will cost ₹10,580 crore and reports ₹6,736 crore already spent, leaving about ₹3,844 crore to finish construction while the government says it has spent ₹759 crore and sanctioned ₹905 crore for evacuees since 2024, of which this ₹300 crore is part.
- Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous YSRCP government of inadequate rehabilitation, saying only 96 people had been rehoused earlier and alleging financial mismanagement as he defended the new disbursement.
- The cash transfer provides immediate relief to displaced families who lost land to the scheme, but closing the funding gap and finishing resettlement work will determine whether the state meets the July 31 target and delivers a lasting solution to the region’s decades-long fluoride contamination problem.