By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh from setting up the controversial Polavaram irrigation project, saying it would submerge many tribal villages in his state.
Patnaik, who met the prime minister in New Delhi Tuesday, also opposed the central government’s move to accord “national status” to the Indira Sagar Polavaram multipurpose irrigation project, being built on river Godavari at an investment of Rs.10,150 crore.
“The chief minister strongly objected to the declaration of the Polavaram project as a national project and requested him (the prime minister) to issue instructions to stop construction of the project as it will submerge large number of tribal villages in Orissa,” said a statement issued by the chief minister’s office Wednesday.
According to state government officials, once the project is completed the back water of river Godavari will flow to its tributaries Saberi and Sileru in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and submerge dozens of bordering villages during floods.
Bringing this point to the attention of the prime minister during the meeting, Patnailk said no public hearing had been held in Orissa by the ministry of environment and forests before granting environmental clearance.
Besides, the ministry of tribal affairs did not seek the opinion of the Orissa government before clearing the project, he added.
Andhra Pradesh claims that the project will provide drinking water to 2.85 million people, produce 960 MW of power and give 23.5 thousand million cubic feet of water to the industry.
The project had first been envisioned by the British in 1941 but had been hanging in the balance due to strong opposition by both local residents and neighbouring states.
The Andhra government has said it will make some embankments along the river, but that is not the solution, Patnaik said. “No proper study was made to ascertain the amount of damage it will cause in Orissa,” he told the prime minister.