The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday accused the Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government in Odisha of being insensitive to the state’s interests in the contentious inter-state Polavaram irrigation project, alleging that it has failed to protect the rights of affected tribal communities.

Polavaram is an under-construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh. Its backwaters are expected to extend into Odisha, posing a threat of submergence to large parts of Motu block in the tribal-dominated Malkangiri district of southern Odisha.

The BJD said a significant number of primitive tribal people and their livelihoods would be adversely affected if the project is completed without addressing their concerns. The party has demanded that the height of the project should not be increased and that the Andhra Pradesh government must hold discussions with Odisha before finalising the project.

It also urged the Mohan Charan Majhi government to take up the matter with both the Andhra Pradesh and Central governments.

Addressing a news conference here, BJD senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said the party has consistently demanded a fresh backwater study by an independent organisation with adequate technical expertise, particularly since the project’s scope has been revised. He alleged that there are no valid environmental clearances from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change for the revised project parameters.

“The BJD has also repeatedly raised concerns about the inadequacy of the proposed Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) plans for the tribal people. But our concerns have been ignored,” Mishra said, adding that the party would take to the streets over the issue.

Mishra said that as per the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal, the flood discharge capacity of the project was fixed at 36 lakh cusecs, the dam height at 140 feet, and the maximum flood discharge level at 150 feet. The maximum submergence level at Konta point, where the Saberi and Sileru rivers converge, was 174.22 feet.

However, he alleged that in 2006, the project was unilaterally revised to a flood discharge capacity of 50 lakh cusecs without any consultation with the affected states, including Odisha, on the likely impact on submergence levels.

“The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has kept the ‘Stop Work Order’ in abeyance from time to time through letters dated 01.01.2014, 23.06.2015 and 12.08.2016, without any public hearing being conducted by the project authorities in the affected areas within Odisha,” Mishra said.

He added that in view of these developments, the then Odisha government filed an original suit before the Supreme Court against the construction of the Polavaram project, challenging various clearances granted in violation of standard norms. Odisha also filed an application seeking amendment of the original suit following the declaration of Polavaram as a National Project, he said.

Mishra further stated that the Andhra Pradesh government conducted a backwater study based on the revised flood discharge capacity of 50 lakh cusecs, revising the submergence level at Konta to 220 feet. Subsequently, the then Odisha government requested IIT Roorkee to conduct an independent backwater study.

“IIT Roorkee reported that the flood discharge capacity would be 58 lakh cusecs and the submergence level at Konta point would rise to 232 feet,” he said.

BJD Rajya Sabha member Subhashish Khuntia said the party has repeatedly raised the issue in Parliament and submitted several questions to the concerned Union ministers. “However, no satisfactory or concrete answers have been provided, raising serious doubts about the intent and transparency of the project,” he said.

Khuntia added that the BJD would continue to fight for the rights of the tribals and the people of Malkangiri both in Odisha and in Delhi.

Tribal leaders Priyabrata Majhi and Manhor Randhari also criticised the state government, saying it was surprising that despite having a tribal chief minister, the issue affecting thousands of primitive tribal groups and other tribal communities in Malkangiri had not been addressed.

“The people of the state want to know how many letters the chief minister has written in the last 18 months to the Union ministers for water resources, tribal affairs and environment, forest and climate change, or to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and the Prime Minister,” they said.

PUC rule ire

Naveen Patnaik criticised the BJP government in the state over the enforcement of the “No PUC, No Fuel” rule, alleging that a lack of foresight led to harassment of people.

Patnaik, the BJD president, said the sudden announcement that the rule would be enforced from January 1 led to chaos with massive queues at testing centres across the state. “The BJP government failed to prepare adequately, with no expansion of testing infrastructure, no advance planning, and no awareness campaigns on the required scale,” he said in a social media post.

Faced with public outrage, the government was forced to take “multiple U-turns”, he said. “These repeated reversals expose the utter incompetence and lack of foresight in the Transport Department. The people of Odisha deserve better governance and policies that are implemented without causing unnecessary suffering. While controlling vehicular pollution is important, it cannot come at the cost of harassing citizens,” Naveen said.

Additional reporting by PTI