Naveen Patnaik demands stop of Polavaram project till Supreme Court disposes case

BHUBANESWAR: Seeking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention into the dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh over the Polavaram project, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today demanded stop of tendering process till matters pending in the Supreme Court were disposed off.

"I request your kind personal intervention in the matter. Immediate orders may be issued not to proceed with tendering process till all the case matters pending before the Honourable Supreme Court of India are finally adjudicated and disposed off," Patnaik wrote to the Prime Minister.

Stating that he came to know about Andhra Pradesh government's tender process for construction of the Polavaram project from media report, Patnaik said: "If the media reports are true, this is extremely unfortunate."

"The formulation of the Polavaram project is in complete violation of Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) award. The government of Odisha has filed a suit in the Supreme Court during October 2007 against construction on the project and to declare the environmental clearance and R & R clearance as null and void," he added.

Patnaik also mentioned that the state government had already filed a number of interlocutory applications (IA) in the Apex Court raising question on the in-principle technical clearance granted by the Central Water Commission to the project as the project formulation and design violated GWDT award.

Government of Odisha also filed IA against the in-principle forest clearance granted to the project and against grant of National project status to the Polavaram project, he pointed out.