Stop Work On Polavaram Project: Odisha Govt To Centre

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Saturday urged the Centre to immediately stop the construction work of the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh.

In a letter to Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan, on Saturday, chief minister Naveen Patnaik reminded him of his letters to the prime minister September 16, 2015 and November 28, mentioning that the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change has kept the “Stop Work Order” in abeyance from time to time without informing Odisha which will be severely affected due to the construction of Polavaram Project.

He also said in his previous letters to the prime minister, he has mentioned that if the project is completed before resolution of all the pending issues it will lead to a situation which will permanently affect a large number of tribal people in Odisha.

“The construction of Polavaram Project is in violation of the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal (GWDT) Award, and it is being constructed without correctly assessing the backwater extent in the Sabari and Sileru limbs in the territory of Odisha,” Naveen maintained.

He also informed that Odisha has filed an original suit against the construction of the Polavaram Project in the Supreme Court and the matter is sub judice.

Asserting that the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted in the year 2005 is invalid as no public hearing was conducted in the Malkangiri district of Odisha which will be severely affected due to construction of Polavaram project in its present formulation, the chief minister said EC granted by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in favour of Polavaram Project was set aside by the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) on December 19, 2007, which directed for conducting public hearing in the affected areas of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

As the orders of NEAA were suspended by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the Odisha government had also filed a counter against this in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Later, the Odisha and the Chhattisgarh government had filed a transfer petition before the Supreme Court with a request to transfer the writ petition pending before the Andhra Pradesh High Court to the Supreme Court. After going through the petition, the apex court had agreed to accept the request of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

The MoEF on June 23, 2015, had decided to keep the stop the work order in abeyance for one year based on the letter of the Andhra Pradesh chief minister on April 25, 2015, subject to several conditions.

The ministry had stated that the Andhra Pradesh government had earlier assured not to impound the reservoir of the project till the issues raised by the Chhattisgarh and Odisha are resolved. “This ministry reiterates this and ask Andhra Pradesh government not to impound the reservoir without its specific permission,” Naveen informed.

However, it is to state that the reservoir is bound to be impounded as the construction of the dam along with spillway is going in full swing, which will result in submergence in the territory of Odisha, he rued.

The chief minister also said that the office memorandum of MoEF dated June 23, 2015 also states that the AP government has assured that it would bring about changes in design and operating parameters of the project in case so warranted as a result of public hearing in Chhattisgarh and Odisha and such changes would be carried out in consultation with the CWC and the consent of all the states, as stipulated vide agreement dated April 2, 1980 would be obtained. In that case change in design or/and operating parameters may be required to ensure that area falling in Chhattisgarh and Odisha does not come under submergence due to the impounding of the project reservoir.

But it is pertinent to mention here that the consent of Odisha was never taken into consideration while changing the design parameters of Polavaram project by the Andhra Pradesh government and the Central Water Commission.

“In this regard, I must mention that the State of Odisha is not being informed on the issue of “Stop Work Order” being kept in abeyance with reasons thereof from time to time by MoEF, thus allowing the construction of Polavaram head works and distribution system uninterruptedly. In view of the above, it is once again requested that the construction work of the Polavaram Project should be stopped immediately till the issues pertaining to the State of Odisha are resolved,” the chief minister reiterated.