New Delhi, Dec. 16: Increasing the height of the Polavaram dam to 186 feet will lead to a crisis as hundreds of tribal villages in the poverty-hit south Odisha will go under water, local MP Balabhadra Majhi said today.

Majhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Nabarangpur in Odisha, told The Telegraph that the Centre must intervene and restrain Andhra Pradesh from its "unilateral" move to increase the height of the dam from its original plan of 150 feet to 186 feet. He said the ongoing construction of the project was "illegal" since views of gram sabhas in the affected areas had not been taken into consideration.

The issue was also raised in the Rajya Sabha, where leaders from across parties raised concern over the spectre of vast swaths in the Scheduled-V areas, the zones dominated by tribal people, in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh being submerged if the height of the multi-purpose dam is raised.

The Polavaram project across the Godavari was conceptualised in the 1980s. The original plan had planned the dam's height to be 150 feet. Only four villages in Odisha and eight villages in Chhattishgarh would have been be affected. At that time, the Odisha government had agreed to the project on the condition that the affected people should be compensated and rehabilitated.

However, the present Andhra Pradesh government has announced plans to increase the height to 186 feet. Considering the previous height, the 150-feet dam would have discharged 36 lakh cusec water. But with the increase in its height, the dam will have more reserve capacity, will discharge 50 lakh cusec of water and inundate the upstream up to 100km, said Majhi, who worked as an engineer in the railways before contesting elections last year.

Two rivers, Sileru and Saberi, are connected to the Godavari. More than a lakh tribal people in Motu block of Malkangiri district may be displaced, Majhi said.

While work is going on in full swing, the Andhra Pradesh government has not shared with its Odisha counterpart the details of the project under its revised plans of increasing the dam height.

The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act says gram sabhas in the Scheduled-V areas will decide how to use the natural resources such as land and forest. For any project, the gram sabhas have to agree. However, no gram sabha meeting has been conducted at villages in Odisha, Majhi said.

"The construction is going on without obtaining the views of the gram sabha in the district of Malkangiri. This is illegal," Majhi said.

Majhi said the Odisha MPs will shortly meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him to ask Andhra to reconsider its move to increase the height, share project details with the Odisha government, conduct public hearing in the affected areas and prepare proper compensation and rehabilitation package for the people who would be displaced.

Majhi disapproved the proposal of the Andhra government to give money for construction of protective embankment along the Saberi and Sileru in both states.

"The embankment is a dangerous idea. It will ensure that the agricultural land on the river belt remain submerged throughout the year because the rainwater cannot be drained," Majhi said.

Had the Andhra government set up three barrages across the Godavari at different points, the barrages would have reduced the possibility of large-scale inundation and displacement while ensuring irrigation and electricity generation.

Majhi said the central government had released Rs 345 crore by September this year for the project. "The Centre must stop further release of funds till the concerns of Odisha are addressed," he said.

He alleged that the Centre was not giving due attention to the concerns.

In the Rajya Sabha, Congress member from Telangana P. Govardhan Reddy wanted to know the steps taken by the Centre to rehabilitate the farmers and tribal people by the project. BJP MP from Karnataka Basawaraj Patil said the affected states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana should sit together to sort out the issue.