With Andhra Pradesh expediting the Rs 10,000-crore Polavaram multi-purpose project, activists have announced that they would fight to stall it.
"We will fight tooth and nail to stall the project and demonstrate against Andhra Pradesh government in Hyderabad and against the Centre," president of People against Polavaram Project (PAPP) Prabhakar Adhikari here yesterday.
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will be badly affected by the project, which is being executed by Andhra Pradesh government on river Godavari. It will submerge hundreds of villages and thousands of acres of agricultural land, he said.
According to PAPP functionaries at least 129 villages and 4,932.22 hectares, including 1,451.51 hectares in Malkangiri district of Odisha would suffer because of the project, whose site is about 80 km from Motu in the district.
"Construction of the dam at Polavaram would lead to heavy discharge in the downstream area. This will not only submerge villages, but also affect mineral resources and give rise to biodiversity hazards. The project must be stopped at the earliest. For the past few years we are fighting for this cause and it will be taken up in a bigger way in the coming days," Adhikari said.
PAPP will hold a protest rally in Hyderabad on January 19 and a similar one in New Delhi, the date of which was, however, yet to be known.
