Orissa moves Supreme Court against irrigation project

BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the final clearance granted by the union environment and forests ministry to the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project on river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, an official said.

“The state government filed a petition in the apex court today (Saturday) seeking cancellation of the forest clearance granted to the project,” Orissa Water Resources Secretary S.C. Mohapatra told IANS.

The central government gave the final clearance to the project for use of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land last month for the Polavaram Indira Sagar Project despite opposition by Orissa which fears that the dam will submerge several villages in the state’s Malkangiri district.

The Orissa government moved the Supreme Court after the ministry first granted interim approval to the project in 2008.

“We are surprised because the environment and forests ministry granted final clearance to the project when the case was still pending in the Supreme Court,” Mohapatra said.

“No assessment on its impact in Orissa was done. Similarly no public hearing was conducted in the villages which would be affected by the project,” he said.