Vizag MP hails passage of bill to implement Polavaram irrigation project

BJP state president and Visakhapatnam MP K Haribabu has lauded the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, saying it would benefit various states in terms of irrigation.

Addressing a news conference here, Babu said the bill will pave the way for the construction of the Polavaram irrigation project.

"Polavaram project is beneficial not only to Andhra Pradesh, but also to Rayalaseema and Telangana. It will also be beneficial to the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Karnataka and Maharashtra get 35 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) of additional water because 80 TMC of water is going to be transferred from Godavari to Krishna basin. Similarly, Odisha gets about five TMC, Chhattisgarh gets 1.5 TMC," said Babu.

However, tribal communities affected by the Polavaram project are up in arms against the ordinance promulgated by Narendra Modi government, saying it would displace them.

Polavaram Project named 'Indira Sagar' is a multi-purpose irrigation project across the Godavari River and it is said that it would submerge agricultural land and forest land in eastern state of Odisha.

First envisaged by India's British rulers back in 1941, the Polavaram project is to divert large quantities of water through a 174-kilometre link canal to the River Krishna.

Following the objections by the Odisha and Chhattisgarh Governments, the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal was initiated in 1980 and an agreement was reached to enable the construction of the project under certain modified specifications.

However, on its part, the Andhra Pradesh Government finalised the tenders for the project, over the River Godavari, even as the petitions filed by the governments of Chhattisgarh and Odisha were still pending in the apex court.