Orissa govt to move SC over Polavaram project

The Orissa government will move the Supreme Court against the clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to the Rs 10,000-crore Polavaram irrigation project on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.

“We have decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India within two days for a stay on the final clearance for the project. The MoEF has given its final approval, even though a case is pending in the apex court,” water resources secretary Suresh Mohapatra told Business Standard.

This will be the second time the Orissa government will move the apex court, after it had challenged the MoEF decision granting interim approval for the project in 2008.

In a parallel protest, the BJD and BJP MPs staged a dharna in New Delhi, in front of Parliament, voicing their opposition to the project.

The state government’s decision to move the Supreme Court follows Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s statement, last Saturday, that Orissa would continue to oppose the Polavaram project owing to its concerns of submergence of tribal villages and forest land in the state.

Patnaik had categorically said in the presence of the visiting Union minister for corporate affairs Salman Khurshid, that all steps would be taken to ensure that Orissa’s concerns are addressed.

Patnaik had also requested the Prime Minister to look into the matter. The Prime Minister, on his part, had assured him that the tribal villages in the state will not be submerged. The state government is irked over the Centre’s decision to grant clearance for the project without consulting it.