Chief Minister Naveen Panaik on Thursday again urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure stopping of the construction of the disputed Polavaram Irrigation Project of Andhra Pradesh and not to accord National Project status to it till the issue pending in the Supreme Court is disposed of.
Since the construction of the project has been challenged in the Supreme Court against, the various clearances accorded to the project and the technical issues which have bearing on submergence in Odisha are yet to be sorted out, it is requested not to declare the project to be a National Project, Patnaik said in his letter.
He pointed out that many technical issues weare to be resolved on the issue of flood design, reservoir operation schedule and adherence to Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal award and BIS codes in the formulation of the Polavaram project which have bearing on backwater effect and the extent of submergence in Odisha.