BJD leaders seek ST Commission’s intervention over potential adverse impact of Polavaram Dam project in Malkangiri

Delegation from Odisha seeks NCST intervention in Polavaram Dam project, highlighting concerns over backwater impact on tribal populations.

A delegation of elected representatives, former Ministers, and legislators of the Biju Janata Dal from Odisha’s Malkangiri and Koraput regions on Wednesday met with Antar Singh Arya, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in New Delhi, seeking the Commission’s urgent intervention in the Polavaram Dam project in Andhra Pradesh.

In a memorandum to the Chairperson, the representatives from Odisha have raised a number of issues with the project and the way it is proceeding, arguing that its implications on the lives and livelihoods of local tribal populations in the upstream regions of Odisha require urgent attention and remedial actions.

The key issue raised by the delegation, led by senior leader Debi Prasad Mishra, was over alleged changes to the design flood discharge capacity for the project and the consequent backwater submergence. In the memorandum, the delegation said the flood discharge was increased from 36 lakh cusec to 50 lakh cusec “without sufficient consideration of the backwater impact in the upstream states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh”.

The representatives said: “This shift has caused apprehensions among the affected populations of Malkangiri, who are at risk of losing their lands and homes.”

In their memorandum, the leaders from Odisha have asked that the NCST “initiate a comprehensive backwater study of its own to assess the potential impact of the project on thousands of tribal populations in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.”

The leaders also met with Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil on Tuesday over the same issue.

In their submissions to the ST Commission, the leaders also claimed that there was a lack of public consultations and transparency in the clearances granted for the project, further arguing that affected States were not adequately brought into the loop.