Bhubaneswar: Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is cracking the whip in another Congress-ruled state, Andhra Pradesh. The environment ministry has red-flagged the 11,000 crore rupee-Pola-Varam dam project.
The ministry has sent a notice to the Andhra Pradesh government asking it to explain in 10 days why the clearance for the project should not be withdrawn since the conditions on which it was granted had been violated.
The notice says the state started construction without holding public hearings in neighbouring Orissa and Chhattisgarh, which will be affected by the dam.
The ministry also accused the state of failing to get the 2005 environment clearance amended after the Central Water Commission in 2009 said embankments will have to be built to prevent land in the neighbouring states from getting submerged.
The Orissa government had earlier planned to move the Supreme Court against the environment ministry clearance for the project in August 2010.
Citing another violation, the environment ministry accused the state government of failing to get the environment clearance granted in 2005 amended after the Central Water Commission in 2009 put a condition that embankments will have to be build to prevent submergence of land in the neighbouring states.
Polavaram on the Godavari river, if built, will be southern India's biggest dam, providing irrigation to one-fourth of the state and drinking water to 25 lakh people across four districts. But from the start it has been shrouded in controversy for alleged violation of environment norms.
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