Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, July 16:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today expressed displeasure over declaring Polavaram project as a national project as it would have serious consequences on the livelihood of a large number of tribal families in the state.

naveen modi

During the eleventh meeting of inter-state council held today at New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said: “My government has been consistently demanding discontinuance of Polavaram project for last few years despite its serious consequences on the livelihood of a large number of tribal families in Odisha and repeated requests of the state to the contrary. Unfortunately, the Union government has not addressed the genuine concerns of Odisha and have declared Polavaram project as a national project assigning the task of taking decision on contentious issues between the two states to a functionary of Polavaram project. This is a clear case of conflict of interest and against the principles of fair play and desired that the Council should take note of such critical issues having inter-state ramifications and evolve an institutional mechanism to settle such disputes in a time bound and effective manner."

Referring to the upper catchment projects in Mahanadi basin, Naveen Patnaik said that Mahanadi is the lifeline of Odisha and the lives and livelihood of farmers of fifteen districts and 65% of population in Odisha are directly or indirectly impacted by the river.

“I would urge upon the Prime Minister not to allow any upper-catchment projects in Mahanadi Basin to safeguard the interests of millions of farmers in Odisha,” he added.