AP wants Centre to clear ''Indirasagar project''

Hyderabad, Apr 2 (UNI) Maintaining that there was no need for taking any further consent from Orissa and Chhattisgarh for the Indirasagar Polavaram multi-purpose project, Andhra Pradesh Major Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah today urged the Centre to expedite the Central Water Commission (CWC) clearance for the project.

The state government wanted the Centre to hold a meeting before April 20 for techno-economic clearance as the same would be of immense help to convince the Supreme Court on the need for 187 hectares of forest land in Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary for the project across the river Godavari, he told a press conference here.

The Tribunal had observed that all cases of submergence of territories in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa as a result of the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh had already been settled by the states concerned in various agreements filed before the Tribunal and there was no need to incorporate a general clause in the final order.

Recalling that the CWC had submitted before the Tribunal in 1980 to clear the Polavaram project, he said both Chhattisgarh and Orissa had not responded to the state's request for a joint survey to ascertain the areas of submergence.

Andhra Pradesh had deposited Rs 59.43 lakh with the Chhattisgarh government for the purpose, he said, adding that under these circumstances the state was constrained to propose formation of protective bunds along the Godavari tributaries -- Sabari and Sileru to protect the areas likely to be submerged and the cost of these bunds had already been incorporated in the detailed project report submitted to the CWC, Mr Lakshmaiah said.

UNI