The Orissa government, which is bent on its demand for re-imposition of the ban on the controversial Polavaram project on Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh, has opposed the visit of a three-member central experts’ team to the state to discuss the project The experts’ team was scheduled to make a trip to the state on Friday.
“The state government had earlier requested the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to defer the team’s visit to Odisha as various clearances, including environment and forest, given to the Polavaram project were under consideration of the Supreme Court,” state water resources secretary Suresh Mohapatra said.
In a letter to MoEF joint secretary Ajay Tyagi on June 19, Mr Mohapatra pointed out that Orissa has also sought re-imposition of the ban on construction work of Polavaram. The MoEF had in a communication on May 21 said the stop work order of Polavaram has been kept in abeyance for six months.
In response, the water resources secretary sought extension of the ban on the ground that construction activity would adversely affect the interests of Orissa.
The state government has filed several petitions in the Supreme Court challenging MoEF’s environmental clearance and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ (MoTA) rehabilitation and resettlement clearance.
“The Odisha government sought cancellation of both clearances as the project is going to have adverse impacts on the people of several villages in the state,” Mr Mohapatra informed.
On December 19, 2007, the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) had set aside MoEF’s environmental clearance to Polavaram and directed holding of public hearing in the affected areas of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The Andhra Pradesh government challenged the NEAA orders in the High Court, which passed an interim order on December 31, 2007, suspending the NEAA directive until further orders.
The state’s water resource secretary in his letter to MoEF joint secretary referred to a previous missive from the state chief secretary to Secretary, MoEF.
The chief secretary had informed the MoEF that it would not be appropriate to take up public hearing on Polavaram through the state Pollution Control Board (as suggested by Andhra Pradesh in 2009) as the matter was sub-judice.
Odisha has been pointing out that the proposed project at Polavaram would submerge over 2,100 hectare spread over 13 tribal villages in Padia block of Maoist-hit Malkangiri district.