Bhubaneswar:
The Odisha government is all set to move Supreme Court in protest of setting up of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) for fast tracking implementation of the controversial mega irrigation project over Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.
Water Resource secretary Suresh Mohapatra on Wednesday told reporters that the government would file a petition in the apex court challenging the Centre's decision to set up the PPA when the issue was still sub judice.
The Union Cabinet on May 1 had approved establishment of PPA under the Union Water Resources Ministry. The PPA is meant to fast-track the project by clearing all hurdles.
The Odisha government which had filed at least four cases challenging the implementation of the controversial project, said it was wrong to set up the PPA before judgement of the cases. The state government had first moved the Supreme Court after MoEF had given its interim approval for the project in 2008.
Thereafter, the state filed another petition in the Supreme Court opposing the Centre's decision to give an environmental nod for the Rs 10,000-crore Polavaram power project proposed on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh.
The state government had argued that Andhra Pradesh had no right to proceed with the project. It had also stated that embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods.
The Odisha government maintained that a large chunk of forest land and a number of tribal villages in the Malkangiri district would be submerged if the Polavaram project was constructed with its present design.