Stop Polavaram Work Till Issues Are Settled, CM Urges PM

Bhubaneswar: Reiterating his stand, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop construction of the Polavararn project until all the pending issues are finally settled in the Supreme Court.

In a letter, the Chief Minister while expressing surprise that the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF & CC) has kept the stop work order in abeyance for the Polavararn project for one year from July 3, 2018, to July 2, 2019, said he had written a letter to the Union Environment Forests & Climate Change minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on June 2 this year requesting him to stop the construction of the project.

“The MoEF & CC, in a letter on June 23, 2015, had stated that the Andhra Pradesh government had earlier assured not to impound the reservoir of the project till the issue raised by Chhattisgarh and Odisha are resolved. The letter had also stated that the Andhra Pradesh 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 hearings in Chhattisgarh and Odisha and such changes would be carried out in consultation with the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the consent of all the states, as stipulated under the agreement made on April 2, 1980,” the Chief Minister said.

Maintaining that the stop work order is being kept in abeyance on yearly basis to allow the construction of the project without any change in legal and factual position of the project, he said the construction of Polavaram project, which is likely to be completed between July 3, 2018, and July 7, 2019, will result in impounding of the Polavaram reservoir thereby causing submergence in the Malkangirl district.

Besides, the construction of embankments requires diversion of forest land and will adversely impact the tribal villages and the tribal population in Malkangiri district, the Chief Minister said and requested the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter and give directions to stop the construction of the project until all the pending issues are finally settled in the  Supreme Court.