Polavaram to submerge 8 villages in Odisha: Javadekar
Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Aug 13:
Eight villages in Odisha, four in Chhattisgarh and 276 in Andhra Pradesh are likely to be submerged due to the Polavaram dam project, Union Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said in the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
“An area of 3427.52 hectares of only forest land in Andhra Pradesh is projected to be inundated. 276 villages in Andhra Pradesh, four villages in Chhattisgarh and eight villages in Odisha are likely to be submerged,” the minister said.
Javadekar made the statement while replying to a question whether the government had conducted environmental impact assessment of the Polavaram dam project and the villages and forest land which are likely to be submerged and destroyed by it.
The minister said an environment management plan (EMP) had been prepared to mitigate the impact of the project on the catchment area, biodiversity, aquatic life, health and the people among other aspects. An environment impact assessment (EIA) study had been conducted in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 1994, which is mandatory for environmental clearance (EC), the minister said.
Environmental clearance (EC) to the Polavaram multipurpose project was accorded on 25 October, 2005 in accordance with the EIA Notification 1994, Javadekar said.
Replying to another question, he said EC cases are dealt with as per procedure prescribed in the EIA Notification 2006.
This notification had been amended from time to time based on experience gained and with a view to further rationalizing the process. He said the latest notification had been issued on June 25 amending the EIA notification 2006 thereby delegating more powers to the state level environment impact assessment authorities (SEIAAs) for granting EC and further streamlining the process.
MInister javadekar is simply bluffing on conduct of Environmental impact Assessment as per the Notificatrion of 1994 issued by MOEF .Infact it violates the regulations and omits several kinds of information and data needed to make a proper decision.The Dam Break Analysis report, risk analysis and Disaster management reports have not been done and the reports have not been placed before the oustees in Orissa and Chattisgarh to elicit public opinion in a public hearing as per law and hence the clearence given by MoEF becomes invalid.
Moreover,odisha advocates must help save the lakhs of tribals likely to be displaced in Malkangfiri area due to back water levels caused by Polavaram Dam.But Naveen Patnaik’s ministers and legislators seem to be indifferent to help save their tribals who lose their right to life and right to livelihood by getting displaced by the submersion due to this killer dam. Nobody can estimate the magnitude of peak flood to calculate the actual no.of villages to be submerged and the land and people to be effected.Legally,the project becomes invalid under the sections 2,3,15,16 and 56 of the Indian contract Act because the conditions of the final award of Bachawat Award are contradicting each other,making the agreements of April,1980 null and void. Are there no intelligent Oriyas who can challenge the project in orissa High Court and save Naveen Patnaik from spending a few hours to study the problem from this angle?
For instance,during arguments before Bachawat tribunal,counsel for Government of india misleed the Tribunal that in the overall national interest and asubmergence upstream,CWC considers that F.R.L and M.W.L.should be fixedat R.L150 feet at the dam site under sub- clause [i]and under sub-clause []counsel stated in writing that With F.R.L/M.W.L+150 feet at dam siteproposed by A.P. state is technically feasible and latr on,tribunal insists that the overall deign of the dam and operating schedule must be left in the hands of CWC. it further states that the DESIGN must be based on the mximum probable FLOOD AS ESTIMATED BY central water commission. THUS THE CLAUSES IN THE AWARD ARE CONTRADICTING EACH OTHER AND HENCE THE AWARD MUST BE TREATED AS NULL AND VOID UNDER VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE INDIAN CONTRACT ACT.let SOME BODY GO TO ORISSA HIGH cOURT ON THIS ASPECT AFTER MORE STUDY