Polavaram case: Supreme Court directs centre to file affidavit

New Delhi: The supreme court here asked centre to file an affidavit mentioning terms and conditions to conduct public hearing in Odisha and Chhattisgarh by Saturday. Next hearing is Monday, December 3.

The follow-up comes after the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, November 21, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop construction of Polavaram irrigation project until all the pending issues are resolved. In the letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister also requested to give directions to the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry to cancel the July order for Polavaram project.

The Ministry has kept the “stop work order” under remission from July 3, 2018 for a year citing the assurances given by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that the reservoir of the Polavaram project will not be impounded without the permission of the Ministry.

Patnaik said the Polavaram project can be reformulated as per Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) award without causing large-scale submergence in Odisha, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.