Naveen seeks PM's intervention on Polvaram project

Bhubaneswar, July 12 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the construction of the Polavaram Project until all the pending issues were settled in the Supreme Court.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Patnaik requested for directions to cancel the July 10 order of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The Ministry has kept the stop work order in abeyance for the Polavaram project from July 3, 2018, to July 2, 2019, thereby allowing the construction of the project without any change in legal and factual position of the Polavaram project.

He said the construction of embankments requires diversion of forest land and will adversely impact the tribal villages and the tribal population in the Malkangiri district.