BJD upset with Centre over Polavaram issue

The ruling BJD in Orissa is peeved over the Union finance minister Arun Jaitely’s announcement on Wednesday that the Centre would bear all the Polavaram project expenses. The party on Thursday said Mr Jaitely’s declaration was akin to attack on the emotions of people of Orissa.

“When the matter is subjudice at the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sent a notice to the Centre regarding this seeking implementation of its ‘stop-work’ order, the announcement of the Union finance minister at this juncture is very unfortunate,” BJD spokesperson Samir Ranjan Dash said.

The Congress, on the other hand, squarely blamed the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha for the development.

“It is the duty of the state government to protect the interest of Oriya people. The state government should make its stand clear over the issue. When Andhra Pradesh government has deposited the money with the Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) for conducting public hearings on the impact of Polavaram project on Orissa sides, the OSPCB is surprisingly sitting over it. Secondly, the Orissa government could not take up the matter with the Centre in right earnest which has led to the present situation,” said Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan.

Senior Congress leader Bhakta Das said his party had already taken its stand on the project and would fight for the state’s interest.

The BJP state unit blamed the then UPA government for the tussle over the Polavaram irrigation project. Party spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had not made any new announcement with regard to the Polavaram project but stuck to the previous UPA government’s promise to the people of Andhra Pradesh.

“During the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the UPA government had promised to give national status to the Polavaram project,” Mr Sharma said.

The BJP leader said the state government should also make it clear what kind of loss it would suffer and tell the same to the people of Odisha as well as to the Centre.