Maintaining that the Polavaram
multi-purpose project is of no good for Odisha, the state
government today said it did not require water from the dam
over river Godavari as offered by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
"Odisha does not need Polavaram project. The state also
does not require water from the AP project. Our water
requirement has already been met by the Kolab project. If at
all we require water, those can be directly drawn from river
Saberi through Mega Lift Irrigation project," Water Resource
Secretary S C Mohapatra told reporters here.
Mohapatra was replying a question on the Andhra Pradesh
government's offer of five TMC (thousand million cubic feet)
water from Polavaram multi-purpose project. "The state
government has already sanctioned the Mega Lift Irrigation
project. We can use it if there is any deficit of water for
irrigation," he said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Reddy in a recent
statement had said that Odisha's loss because of Polavaram
project was "very small" and the gain "much more".
While Odisha would lose around 2000 acres (due to
submergence for Polavaram project), it would get five TMC
water, Reddy had said, adding that to store 5 TMC water 4000
to 5000 acres of land and Rs 600 to Rs 700 crore would be
required. But Odisha would benefit as the storage would be
done in Andhra, Reddy had said.
Meanwhile, Odisha government is yet to take a decision
on Andhra Pradesh's proposal of settling the issue through
discussion.
"We have sought some details about Polavaram project from
Andhra government. We should know what exactly they want to
discuss with us," Mohapatra said, adding that a case was
pending in the Supreme Court in this regard. Odisha government
had gone to the apex court challenging the Rs 16,000 crore
Polavaram project.
Official sources said Andhra Pradesh had offered to pay
Odisha Rs 650 crore as grant for constructing a 30-km long
embankment inside the state for Polavaram project.
"It would be foolish for us to accept such an offer,"
said a senior official, adding that a large area in Odisha's
Malkangiri district would be submerged once the Polavaram
project becomes operational.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had
sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention into the
dispute with Andhra Pradesh over Polavaram project as the
neighbouring state had reportedly finalised tenders for
construction.
The state had been opposing Polavaram project since
2007 and filed at least two cases in the Supreme Court seeking
to stop the dam project over Godavari.
