- Deccan Chnonicle August 11, 2005

Panel disputes Polavaram claim

 By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee has raised several critical queries on the Polavaram dam being constructed on the Godavari river, putting irrigation department officials in a tight spot.

The CEC is verifying the State government's claim on forest area submergence and the area that the dam would cultivate, officials who have seen the report told this correspondent.

The CEC, in its communication to the State government a couple of days ago, has raised 12 questions mostly pertaining to submergence of forest area and protected wildlife sanctuary and the resettlement of tribal hamlets, officials in the irrigation department said. It has asked the government to submit the latest updated data on Polavaram within two weeks so that it can submit a report to the Supreme Court by the first week of September, the officials said.

The CEC pointed out that as per the State government's data the protected wildlife sanctuary likely to be submerged by the dam was only 183 hectares. But an analysis of satellite pictures showed that it would be much more, the CEC said according to sources.

According to an estimate, about 1,700 hectares of protected wildlife sanctuary and an equal amount from "deemed forests" would be submerged by water from the dam, the CEC said. Sources said the CEC had pointed out that Orissa and Chhattisgarh had submitted different data on forest submergence.

Another major issue that the CEC raised was with regard to duplication of area that the Polavaram would cultivate. Parts of this area overlapped with the area under the Tadipudi and Pushkara lift irrigation projects being constructed in the same area, the CEC pointed out according to the sources.

Out of 7.5 lakh acres shown as the area of Polavaram that would cultivate, nearly 4 lakh acres would be covered by the Tadipudi and Pushkara projects, which were conceived during the TD regime. The officials have admitted that the two projects would become redundant once the Polavaram dam is completed, but they are still being shown as different projects with ferent cultivation areas.      

The CEC has also asked the State government to resurvey villages that will need rehabilitation and resettlement. "We have given oral clarifications to the CEC, but they wanted written replies," a senior irrigation official said.