BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly committee on Polavaram has decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the third week of July to seek his intervention to stop Andhra Pradesh from unilaterally going ahead with the Polavaram irrigation project as it is likely to submerge large areas of Malkangiri district in Odisha.
However, before meeting the Prime Minister, the Assembly committee members will make a spot visit in the first week of July to ascertain the extent of damage on Odisha side, Congress chief whip in the Assembly and a member of the committee Taraprasad Bahinipati said.
Bahinipati said the Secretary in the Water Resources Department and other senior officials will accompany committee members to the spot. Criticising the State Government for not having any concrete information about the extent of damage to be caused by Polavaram dam project in Odisha, the Congress leader said the committee has sought a report in this regard.
The committee has sought details about the extent of the area of Odisha to be submerged and population to be affected by the proposed dam to be built in Andhra Pradesh, Bahinipati said.
Senior BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy, a member of the committee, said appointment has been sought from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for a meeting in the third week of July. The committee will also submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, he said and added that it will be prepared after the visit of the committee members to the location.
The Polavaram project has been a contentious issue with Odisha opposing it stating that it would inundate several areas of Malkangiri district bordering Andhra Pradesh. On July 11, 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment Bill) was passed in the Lok Sabha, paving the way for construction of the project over river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. The Bill was also passed in the Rajya Sabha subsequently.
Satpathy alleged that the Centre has arbitrarily allowed the Andhra Pradeh Government to go ahead with the construction of the dam project without taking into confidence Odisha Government which violates Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal Award.
