Orissa BJP seeks details of threat from Andhra dam
September 21st, 2010 - 4:35 pm ICT by IANS
Bhubaneswar, Sep 21 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists Tuesday staged a rally in Orissa demanding details of possible damage due to the Polavaram dam project on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh, recently approved by the central government.
Carrying posters and banners, activists of the party’s youth unit marched in Bhubaneswar from their office near Ram Mandir square to Raj Bhavan, the official residence of Governor M.C. Bhandare, police said.
They shouted slogans against the state government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the central government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a police official said.
“Arjun Sethi, a leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was the union minister in charge of central water resources from 2000-04 and he should have scrapped the project at that time. Now the same BJD is opposing the project but only after the centre scrapped the mining project of Vedanta,” a protest leader said.
“Both the state and central governments have not done any assessment about the possible damage the project will cause in Orissa,” former state BJP president Suresh Pujari said.
“The state and central governments should come out with a white paper on the project detailing the possible damage,” he said.
“If the government continues with the project, we will take this agitation to other parts of the state,” he said.
According to the Andhra Pradesh government, the Rs.10,150-crore Polavaram irrigation project will provide drinking water to 2.85 million people, produce 960 MW of power and give industry 23,500 million cubic feet of water.
The union environment and forests ministry gave the final clearance in July for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land for the project on the condition that no submergence of forest land should take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
The project, first envisioned by the British rulers in 1941 has, however, been facing opposition for decades from local residents who fear displacement, a concern shared by residents in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
- Orissa demands withdrawal of clearance to Polavaram project - Aug 10, 2010
- Orissa to move Supreme Court against Polavaram project - Aug 30, 2010
- Andhra offers talks with Orissa over Polavaram project - Nov 02, 2010
- BJD holds massive protest over Polavaram project - Sep 12, 2010
- Orissa objects to green signal to Polavaram project - Jan 07, 2011
- Orissa to wait for apex court verdict on Polavaram - Nov 12, 2010
- Orissa moves Supreme Court against irrigation project - Sep 04, 2010
- BJD accuses central government of blocking Orissa projects - Sep 18, 2010
- Orissa court questions officials on Andhra project - Oct 14, 2009
- Students stage street play against Orissa dam project - Sep 08, 2010
- BJD's protest march against central government - Oct 02, 2010
- Contempt plea filed against officials for pushing Andhra project - Sep 09, 2009
- Orissa seeks PM's help in irrigation project row - Aug 05, 2009
- Public hearing on Polavaram irrigation project - Mar 16, 2011
- Orissa moves apex court against green nod for project (Lead) - Sep 04, 2010
Tags: andhra pradesh government, biju, bjd, british rulers, central governments, central water, dam project, forest land, irrigation project, manmohan singh, mining project, orissa, police official, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, protest leader, pujari, ram mandir, submergence, union minister