Orissa to report to SC on violations of FRA & Environment Act

Close on the heels of the Supreme Court of India refusing to stay construction of the Polavaram dam, dealing a body blow to the hopes of Orissa, the state government has now geared up to report to the apex court on violations of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and Forest Rights Act (FRA) at the project site.

“We are going to apprise the Supreme Court on violations of EPA and FRA at the Polavaram project site. The state government will constitute a team of senior engineers who will inspect the project site along with the experts appointed by the apex court and report on the violations of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal order. Even the tribunal had acknowledged that the villages in Orissa will be submerged because of the implementation of the project”, Suresh C Mohapatra, principal secretary (water resources) told mediapersons here.

He said, the stay order of the apex court was not permanent and it would be reconsidered after two months.

The apex court, on last Monday had refused to grant stay on the Polavaram dam construction.

"In the current circumstances, it would be difficult for us to stay the construction of Polavaram dam at this stage", a two-member bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Justice Mukundakam Sharma and Justice A R Dave said, refusing to entertain Orissa's plea.

The apex court has directed former member of the Central Water Commission (CWC) M Gopalakrishnan to inspect the Polavaram project along with CWC and submit separate reports to the apex court by July 19, the next date of hearing.

The bench's remark had come in response to a plea by senior counsel Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Orissa, who insisted that the work should be stopped pending submission of the expert panel's report.

It may be noted that the Orissa government had constituted a three-member expert committee to examine various issues pertaining to the controversial Polavaram project.

The expert committee was constituted by the state government in accordance with the Supreme Court of India and the state had sent the names of these experts to the apex court.

The members of the expert committee are Anil D Mohile, former chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC), D K Goswami, professor of IIT-Delhi and M Perumal, professor of IIT-Roorkee.

The Andhra Pradesh government had also filed the names of three experts- M Gopalakrishnan, B M Ahuja and J Hassan with the apex court.

The Orissa government had approached the Supreme Court on September 4 last year, challenging the Centre's decision to give final environmental clearance for the Polavaram project.

In its suit, Orissa had sought a declaration that Andhra Pradesh had no right or entitlement to undertake or proceed with the Polavaram project on the Godavari river. It had also stated that embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods. As per the estimates of the state government, the project was likely to submerge 2119.38 hectares of land in Naxalite-affected tribal areas of Malkangiri .