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23h ago

BJD Presses Centre to Halt Polavaram Work Over Odisha Tribal Risk

The party argues that a 2006 design change raising the project’s flood discharge requires new studies before work proceeds.

BJD raises concerns over Polavaram project, worries about displacement in Odisha
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Overview

  • After meeting the Jal Shakti Minister and the CWC chair in New Delhi, a BJD delegation also petitioned the Tribal Affairs and Environment ministers over threats to communities in Malkangiri.
  • Citing a 2022 Supreme Court observation assigning a leading role to the Centre and CWC, the party sought stakeholder consultations with riparian states and affected tribal groups.
  • The BJD’s memoranda demand a stop-work order, independent backwater and social-impact studies, and a review of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ earlier R&R clearance.
  • The party says the CWC has declined to conduct a fresh backwater study for the revised 50 lakh cusecs design flood despite expert recommendations and Odisha’s concerns.
  • With Rs 17,936 crore recently sanctioned for project completion, no stop-work directive or new studies have been announced, which the BJD says heightens displacement risk for PVTGs in Malkangiri.