The view of the Polavaram Spill way at the Polavaram Project in Andhra Pradesh. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A joint action committee comprising representatives from proposed submerged areas of Odsiha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana has demanded immediate halt to Polavaram Polavaram Project till all submergence issues are settled.

Delegates from the submerged areas of Motu Tahsil and Malkangiri district in Odisha, along with representatives from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, met under a joint action committee (JAC) at Motu to discuss the implications of the ongoing Polavaram interstate water project.

According to Biju Janata Dal, which is mobilizing support to stop the progress of Polavaram Project, the JAC condemned the unilateral decision by Centre to sanction ₹12,000 crores in 2024-25 and ₹6,000 crores in 2025-26 totalling around ₹18,000 crores for the completion of the project, without proper consultation with the riparian states and the communities at risk of displacement.

The decision violates the provisions of the 1980 Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award and poses a direct threat to the people of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, it said.  Former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik addressed the meeting through video conference.

Mr. Patnaik said he has always opposed the design change of the project for which many areas of Malkangiri district would be submerged and he would always fight for the rights of the people of Malkangiri.

“A high-level delegation from Centre and Odisha must visit the affected areas to assess the potential impacts of the project. The work at the Polavaram Dam site should be stopped immediately till all submergence issues in Malkangiri district of Odisha are settled and also in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” the JAC said passing a resolution.

It resolved to initiate a legal battle seeking a stay on further construction of the project until all environmental and legal procedures are followed.

“Independent backwater studies should be conducted, with representation from all affected states, to evaluate the potential impacts more accurately. Moreover, a mandatory public hearing must be held in Malkangiri, Odisha, before granting any further environmental clearances or approvals for the project,” representatives demanded.

The JAC demanded no displacement should occur without a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement plan that guarantees compensation, alternative livelihoods, and protection of land rights for all affected families.

Expressing concern over granting of environmental and forest clearances without conducting a mandatory public hearing in the proposed submerged region in Odisha, the JAC said that these clearances, based on inaccurate assumptions about submergence, were detrimental to the environment and the indigenous tribal communities who will be severely affected.

The Jal Sankalph Yatra was organised where hundreds of women took water from the confluence point of Saveri and Sileru and took it to the Polavaram protest venue and pledged to fight for the rights of the proposed submerged area people.