Post News Network
New Delhi: Union water resources minister Uma Bharti Thursday urged the Chief Ministers of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to meet and brainstorm a solution for the Polavaram irrigation project that has been a point of contention between both states.
“I have requested Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to discuss with his Orissa counterpart Naveen Patnaik as it is a national project and it is also a question of tribals’ lives. We have to be very sensitive while dealing with this,” Bharti said while speaking to mediapersons Thursday.
“We’re ready to sort out whatever issues there are with the Orissa government. I’m ready to talk to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard,” she added.
Emphasising on the need to solve the inter-state dispute over the water project, Bharti said, “All disputes will have to be sorted out before Polavaram moves forward. I totally believe that the matter needs to be sorted out. Naidu is a seasoned CM and he is capable of resolving whatever issues there are with the Orissa government. If need be we’re ready to step in,” Bharti added.
BJD MPs had staged a protest inside and outside Parliament Wednesday demanding a statement from the minister on the project. In the Rajya Sabha, BJD members displayed placards and protested against the construction of the dam stating that it was being done without the consent of the state government.
The Polavaram project, which spans the East and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh with its reservoir reaching up to the borders of Orissa and Chhattisgarh, is expected to displace thousands of people while marooning hundreds of villages in Orissa.