BJP seeks Prez intervention in Polavaram project
Criticising the UPA Govt at the centre for giving clearance to Andhra Pradesh's Indira Sagar Polavaram dam, the ruling BJP in Orissa sought President Pratibha Patil's intervention in scraping the controversial project.
Criticising the UPA government at the centre for giving clearance to Andhra Pradesh's Indira Sagar Polavaram dam, the ruling BJP in Orissa on Saturday sought President Pratibha Patil's intervention in scraping the controversial project.
The leaders of the regional party sat on a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar to highlight the adverse impact of the project on Orissa and said the dam would pose a great threat to the ecology and habitat in Malkangiri district.
In a memorandum to the president, they said that the project would submerse nearly a dozen of villages in Malkangiri district, which is inhabitated by the primitive Koya tribes.
"It is strange that the technical advisory committee of the Central Water Commission (CWC) approved the project without taking into confidence the neighbouring states like Orissa, Chhatishgarh. It is legally incumbent upon the CWC to consult affected parties before granting technical approval," they said.
The leaders claimed that the National Environment Appellate Tribunal had also quashed the 10,150-crore Indira Sagar Polavaram multi-purpose project on river Godavari but its clearance by the CWC had violated the order of Orissa High Court and also the norms of Godavari water dispute tribunal.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had lodged a protest with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding that the project should not be given national project status as it was "anti-people" and "ant-tribal".
"The exercise of Andhra Pradesh government in collusion with the Congress-led UPA government can be construed as an anti-people measure," they said.
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