Malkangiri: Polavaram will cause great destruction. 50 lakh people are sure to be directly affected. Assets worth over Rs 1 lakh crore will be destroyed. The ‘Ama Janata Adhikar’ forum has made such a statement regarding the project after visiting the affected areas and briefed them about the possible emergency situation.
According to the sources, The central government has sanctioned the Polavaram multi-purpose project and given it national project status, and invited a national disaster for the future. The project will involve major geographical changes in the Motu tehsil area of Odisha. Thousands of tribals will become destitute due to displacement. Natural resources like land, forest will be submerged.
Many engineers and environmentalists in the country had earlier warned that the design of the Polavaram project was not correct. However, the protection of human life or natural resources is not taken into consideration. Therefore, the forum has feared that there will be massive damage due to frequent floods and dam collapses. Over 2 lakh people will be affected by submergence of 63691 hectares of land in Andhra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. 4827 tribals will be displaced due to inundation of 6950 hectares of Motu area. The Supreme Court directed the central government to take a decision in consultation with the states but it was ignored.
However, the common man will suffer the consequences. The central government is also not accepting barrage-based project suggestions by stopping the project. According to the Supreme Court’s order, the Central Government is not carrying out public hearing meetings by independent agencies in large areas. The forum presented 5 proposals and demanded the government to take immediate action.
