Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik seems to be losing patience as the Andhra Pradesh government is going ahead with the Polavaram Project despite the matter pending in court. The tone of the letter he has written to the prime minister demanding that the Andhra Pradesh government should stop construction of Polavaram project is reflects so.
Patnaik, in a letter to the prime minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday said, ” I am to express my deep concern in the manner in which the interest of the state of Odisha are being sacrificed in the matter of Polavaram Project with out addressing our concern”. “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 of my previous letters on the subject.”
The chief minister has pointed out that even though the Polavaram Project has been accorded national project status as part of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, the project does not qualify to be considered as national project as it does not satisfy the national standards/ norms for such declaration.
“I am writing this letter with the hope of impressing upon you the magnitude of the consequences of the people of Odisha will have to face viz: the submergence of tribal lands, the flooding of fertile agriculture lands, mass displacement of villages, all of which can be avoided if an opportunity is given for a final resolution of the dispute pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The Polavaram project can be reformulated as per Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal award without causing large scale submergence in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh taking into consideration the constructed project operating in the command area of Polavaram, like the Pattisema project and others. If the project is allowed to be completed before the resolution of all the pending issues, it will cause permanent injury to the interest of the state of Odisha and its people.
“My earnest request not to allow to construction of the Polavaram project until all the pending issues are finally settled in the Hon’ble Apex Court”,
