VIJAYAWADA: The Odisha government has written to the Centre seeking to halt Polavaram project works. In his letter to Union minister for environment Harsh Vardhan, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik said works should be put on hold till the concerns of Odisha were answered satisfactorily.
Patnaik said the Andhra Pradesh government or the Godavari River Water Disputes Tribunal have not resolved the sharing of water from Sabari and Sileru rivers yet. “Continuing the Polavaram works without resolving this issue is a clear violation of existing rules,” he said. The CM further said the AP government has not resolved the issues concerning rehabilitation and resettlement of the submerging areas in Odisha.
On the other hand, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday reiterated that he was asking engineers and contractors to speed up the works even if the Centre is not going to support the project.