Dammed Tender

The Rs 400-crore cost escalation of the Sripada Sagar irrigation project on the Godavari has snowballed into a major controversy. The Opposition took to the streets on March 7 demanding that the contract files be placed before the assembly. CM Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy refused, saying the TDP attitude "was destructive". Speaker K. Suresh Reddy suspended 62 TDP, CPI, CPI(M) members on March 6 for disrupting proceedings. Irrigation minister P. Lakshmaiah justifies the project cost of Rs 1,725.5 crore, saying it was wrongly tabulated as Rs 1,344.5 crore. The Opposition charge: tender prices were inflated to benefit certain contractors.