Bhubaneswar, December 14 BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged party members to intensify their fight for justice on behalf of the tribal communities of Odisha, who stand to be seriously affected due to the Polavaram dam project in neighboring Andhra Pradesh.

Patnaik’s call came after a delegation of party leaders met him at his residence to brief him about their recent visit to Delhi, where they raised concerns with the Center over the potential impacts of the project .

In an article on X, Patnaik said, “The Polavaram project will submerge many areas of Malkangiri and will greatly affect the tribal brothers and sisters. I met and discussed with the delegation of @bjd_odisha who submitted the letter of formal notice to the central government. advised them to continue fighting for the rights of the people #BJDWithOdisha.

BJD delegation leader Debi Prasad Mishra said they briefed Patnaik about their interaction with Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil and senior officials of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Environment, of Forests and Climate Change, as well as with the chairmen of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and Central Water Commission.

Mishra confirmed that apart from the seven members of the delegation, the party’s seven MPs also accompanied the team during their meetings with central government officials.

Former MP and prominent tribal leader Pradeep Majhi said, “The BJD president informed us that he would fight for the rights of tribal people and also asked us to continue the struggle. The party will launch an agitation campaign from January to demand justice for the people of Malkangiri, especially the tribes who will be affected by the Polavaram project.

Majhi, a native of Nabarangpur district, claimed that the Polavaram project would submerge around 200 tribal villages in Motu and Padi blocks of Malkangiri district due to the backwater created by the dam. He also highlighted the potential environmental damage, noting that a large area of ​​flora and fauna in Malkangiri will be submerged by the backwaters of the Godavari River.

The BJD has planned a series of agitations across the state, starting with Malkangiri district. Furthermore, the party is organizing demonstrations in Delhi.

Majhi further claimed that the Center was under pressure from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to continue with the project as the TDP had emerged as a key ally of the BJP after the 2024 elections in Lok Sabha. The Center has allocated ₹12,000 crore in its 2024 budget for completion of Polavaram project, according to BJD leaders.

The BJD pointed out that the project was conceived under the resolution of the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal, which set the framework for agreements between Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

However, the party argued that significant changes were made to the original design, especially with regard to the flood discharge capacity of the dam, which was increased from 36 lakh cusecs to 50 lakh cusecs without adequately holding considers the impacts of backwaters in the upstream states of Odisha. and Chhattisgarh.

In a statement, the BJD said Patil assured the delegation that Odisha’s concerns regarding the Polavaram project would be taken seriously.

“The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is committed to conducting a detailed assessment of the impact of the Polavaram project on tribal communities, including potential displacement, loss of agricultural land and socio-economic challenges. The Minister pledged to take proactive measures to mitigate these negative effects. “, the press release said.

Leena Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, reassured the delegation that the environmental clearances for the project would be reviewed, taking into account the latest data provided by Odisha.

“The delegation also sought reactivation of the 2011 suspension order, and Nandan assured that this issue would be revisited,” Mishra, head of the BJD delegation, said. He added that National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Chairman Antar Singh Arya had taken cognizance of the memorandum submitted by the BJD and confirmed that a visit to the Polavaram project site would be organized to assess the situation first-hand.

In 2011, Jairam Ramesh, then Minister of Environment and Climate Change, issued an order halting the Polavaram project until all related issues were resolved. However, in 2014, his successor, Jayanti Natarajan, dismissed him. The BJD is now demanding that the 2011 order be reinstated, insisting that the project should only proceed once all outstanding issues have been carefully resolved.

The Chairman of the Central Water Commission and his team admitted that they lacked complete details of the project, but assured the delegation that comprehensive answers would be provided once the required information was obtained, the statement added.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed with no modifications to the text.