House Panel Seeks Details from Govt on Polavaram

BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly Committee headed by Speaker Niranjan Pujari on Tuesday decided to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the controversial Polavaram dam project, construction of which has been started by the Seemandhra Government unilaterally.

The Committee, which met for the first time on Tuesday, asked the State Government to furnish details on the extent of loss and submergence on Odisha side once the project is completed by Andhra Pradesh. After receiving the report, the panel will prepare a memorandum to be submitted to the Prime Minister, appointment with whom will be sought in the last week of August.

Informing this, Congress Chief Whip Taraprasad Bahinipati said all MPs from the State and Leader of the Opposition Narsingh Mishra will also be invited to be a part of the delegation.

Manas Madkami, BJD MLA from Malkangiri, a member of the committee said the memorandum would urge Modi to safeguard the interest of tribals and their land on Odisha side to be affected by the project. “Since the project would submerge some parts of Malkangiri district, we will continue our protest against it,” he said.

The Speaker refused to comment on the matter. The House Committee was constituted with members from all political parties to address the issues raised by the State vis-a-vis the multipurpose dam project in Seemandhra.

The issue had cropped in the Budget session of the Assembly in July with both the Congress and BJP demanding a White Paper to be issued by the State Government with details about submergence on the Odisha side because of project. Several ruling party MLAs had also asked the State Government to allow a visit by a high level committee to study the ground situation.

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