Bhubaneswar, Jan. 7: With the political temperature surrounding the Polavaram dam rising, the BJD today organised a 12-hour strike on the issue in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada districts. It also demonstrated near the Raj Bhavan here.
While the BJD upped its ante against the Centre over the issue, Union mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar and petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan met chief minister Naveen Patnaik here and discussed issues pertaining to the state's interest.
Both Tomar and Pradhan were in the city to attend the 36th foundation day event of the Navaratna central PSU National Aluminum Company (Nalco). After meeting the chief minister, Pradhan said he had come to invite the chief minister to the programme in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi would dedicate the Indian Oil Corporation's Paradip Oil Refinery project to the nation on February 6.
On the other hand, Tomar assured the chief minister that Nalco would provide the required help to build the proposed Alumina park at Angul. The minister also assured the BJD chief of positively looking into the state's demand to provide mining lease and prospecting licence of the Karlapat bauxite mines in Kalahandi to the Odisha Mining Corporation.
In another development, the BJD's strike call crippled life in the four districts. The four state ministers Puspendra Singh Deo, Ramesh Majhi, Pranab Prakash Das and Pradeep Panigrahi monitored the protest organised by the party.
Talking to The Telegraph, Majhi said: "As the case is still sub-judice in the Supreme Court, the Centre should stop the Andhra Pradesh government from going ahead with the project."
He said that when the first MoU with regard to the project was signed in 1978 with the state government, the dam's proposed height was 150 feet. "Without adhering to the prescribed height, the Andhra government has now increased the height to nearly 180 feet. They have not convened gram sabhas to solicit the views of people on the project."
While the party was organising its protest rallies in undivided Koraput, its leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to the President to governor S.C. Jamir in Bhubaneswar.
On the other hand, the BJP and the Congress dubbed the BJD's protest on Polavaram a "drama".
Pradhan said: "It was the then UPA government that had given the status of the national project to Polavaram during the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Parliament even passed a bill. As the government is a continuous process, the successive government carried out the decisions. All the three affected states should present their demands before the Centre."
However, he made it clear that state BJP unit would demand more compensation for the state. Union tribal welfare minister Jual Oram said: "The BJD should stop this drama on the issue of Polavaram."
Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan said: "Had the state government opposed the project during public hearing, the court could have taken cognisance of it. The government had also failed to present its case before the technical committees. It has no interest in Polavaram. They are enacting a drama over the issue. Through this they want to divert public attention from the burning issue of irregularities in the distribution of ration cards."
