Polavaram Dam: Centre's ordinance triggers fresh agitation

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, June 3, 2014: After strong opposition from the chief ministers of Telangana and Odisha, the prestigious Polavaram multipurpose project is in fresh trouble.

Last Sunday, thousands of Koya tribals of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana had gathered at Motu village in Malkangiri district in Odisha and vowed to launch a fresh agitation against the Centre’s move of releasing an Ordinance recently, paving away for the construction of Polavaram.

Now, doubts are being raised by experts on the possibility of the project construction. Polavaram project is already mired in controversies with the governments of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra approaching appropriate legal entities to stall the project showing many reasons.

Earlier, the ruling BJD in Odisha had held many protests and demonstrations against the project in which many state ministers and party MLAs had actively taken part.

In fact, during his maiden meeting with Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Monday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik raised serious concerns on the Polavaram project and asked the Centre to scrap it.

“The people of Odisha and Telangana need not worry at all. The project will not unleash devastation as they are thinking. We hope AP government will provide the necessary compensation, relief and rehabilitation packages for those who will be affected. Some are unnecessarily spreading fear among innocents. The Polavaram project will actually benefit Telangana. Already, thousands of crores have been spent on the project and it should be completed,” said chairman of Forum for Action Research and Policy Analysis (FARPA), Prof. R.V. Rama Rao, who has been advocating the project since long.

Polavaram project is vital for providing water to Rayalaseema through inter-basin transfer of 45 TMC, generate 960 MW hydropower, stabilising and securing the present Godavari and Krishna delta systems, besides controlling the periodic flood  in coastal areas.

It is also envisaged to supply water to Vizag for domestic and industrial purposes as the region is poised to grow in future in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.