Hold Polavaram project, Naveen Patnaik urges PM Modi

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to allow the construction of the Polavaram irrigation project until all pending issues were resolved.

"If the multi-purpose project is allowed to be completed before the resolution of all pending issues, it will cause permanent injury to the interests of Odisha and its people," the Chief Minister said in a letter written to the Prime Minister on Tuesday.

Patnaik has expressed his "deep concern" over the "sacrifice" of Odisha's interests in the project without addressing its "legitimate concerns" "... It is my earnest request not to allow the construction of the Polavaram project until all the pending issues are finally settled in the Hon'ble Apex Court," he wrote in the letter.

"I am to express my deep concern in the manner in which the interests of Odisha are sacrificed in the matter of the Polavaram project without addressing our legitimate concerns. It is unfortunate that the construction of the project is going on at a rapid pace despite the pendency of the matter in the Hon'ble Supreme Court and also despite my previous letters," he said.

Though, the Polavaram project has been declared as a national project in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, it does not qualify to be considered as a national project as it does not satisfy the national standards or norms for it, Patnaik said. Patnaik said, in his previous letters earlier, he had expressed deep concern regarding submergence of a large number of villages in Odisha, majority of them inhabited by Scheduled Tribes, if the Polavaram project in its current form is permitted to proceed.

"The project's construction has been taken up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh unilaterally much before obtaining the CWC clearance, based on plans or design that are in violation of the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal (SWDT) award and as such not agreed to by the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha," Patnaik said.

The Chief Minister's letter said the project works are going on without conducting any public hearing in Odisha, which is mandatory requirement for getting any environmental clearance. The issue of public hearing is pending in the court, Patnaik said, adding "it is surprising that neither the concerns of those most affected by the project are considered nor their involvement is sought."

Patnaik said that there have been a "clear violation" in obtaining environmental and forest clearance by the Environment and the Forest ministry, resettlement and rehabilitation clearance by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the technical advisory committee clearance by the Central Water Commission (CWC).

The Chief Minister said the Polavaram project can be reformulated as per the GWDT award without causing largescale submergence in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, taking into consideration the constructed project operating in the command are of Polavaram, like the Pattiseema project and others.