Odisha CM requests PM to stop Polavaram construction work

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give appropriate directions to immediately stop the construction work of the Polavaram Project until all the pending issues are resolved.

"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," Patnaik said in a letter to Modi.

The Chief Minister's letter came after the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry kept the "stop work order" in abeyance for a further period of two years, disregarding the concerns of Odisha.

"I would like to reiterate that if the construction work on the Polavaram Project is not stopped forthwith, it will have immense adverse impact on the people living in the tribal district of Malkangiri in Odisha," said the Chief Minister.

He said the submergence of tribal villages resulting in mass displacement of primitive tribals, flooding of fertile agricultural lands and submergence of large extent of forest area would be irreversible consequences.

A final resolution of the dispute is pending before the Supreme Court. 

The Polavaram Project can be reformulated as per the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) order without causing large scale submergence in Odisha, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, Patnaik added. IANS