Submergence of villages, displacement of people, inter-State issues and court cases will be major hurdles in implementation of the multi-purpose Polavaram hydel project.
The recent decision of the Union Cabinet clearing the proposal of constituting the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) for execution of the project during the election eve is good news but it has several major hurdles, particularly those involving inter-State disputes on submergence.
Already, the Odisha Government has expressed its intent to take up the matter of submergence of villages in Malkangir district to the Supreme Court once they get the details of the Union Cabinet decision. Even within unified Andhra Pradesh there is considerable concern about submergence of villages and potential displacement of thousands of villagers in Khammam district.
While leaders in the Seemandhra region are keen that the project goes through as they would be major beneficiaries of the project the Telangana Rastra Samithi Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao made it clear that they would oppose the implementation of the Polavaram project in its present form.
The AP Reorganisation Act 2014 has provided for the constitution of the Centrally-funded authority and a governing body. As per the proposal, all assets of the Polavaram project are expected to be transferred to the PPA and 90 per cent of the project funding would be from the Central Government as it has been accorded national project status. The multi-purpose project, which has been pending for several decades, is aimed at facilitating inter-basin transfer of water from Krishna river to Godavari, balance farm sector requirements in the East and West Godavari districts, generating 960 MW of hydel power and also supply water to the coastal city of Visakhapatnam and the Vizag Steel Plant.
The declaration of national project status and creation of an exclusive authority to take up its implementation augurs well for the project, but it has to cross several hurdles including opposition from neighbouring States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which face submergence issues, and also opposition within the unified State of Andhra Pradesh as it has support and opposition in both the regions.