Lives of Rivers & Livelihoods of People

Polavarm Politics

2011-10-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

Orissa to challenge report on Polavaram in Supreme Court

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa government has decided to challenge the findings of Gopal Krishnan report on Pollavaram dam project in the Supreme Court. The Apex Court had manadated Gopal Krishnan to examine whether construction in Pollavaram is as per the law of the land.

The ruling Biju Janta Dal in Orissa in the recent past had organised a series of centre-bashing protest rallies across the state raking up the issue of clearance by the union ministry of environment and forest [MOEF] to the Andhra Pradesh government's Polavaram project over the Godavari river.

The BJD run Naveen Patnaik government has been maintaining that no public hearing was conducted in Malkangiri district before issuing environmental clearance to the project and the project violated Forest Conservation Act, 1980 so far as diversion of forest land for submergence was concerned. It also found many deficiencies in the procedures followed for the hydrology of the project and computation of backwater submergence, an official said here.

A high-level meeting held under chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik here revealed that the proposed project would result in submergence of vast areas in the state. The project in its present state is in violation of Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal orders in which the design flood of the dam was limited to 36 lakh cusec. The project also included upstream projects like Inchampalli and Bhopalapatnam for moderating flood water at Pollavaram project, the officials said.

The Andhra Pradesh Government has not taken up these upstream projects. In the absence of the upstream projects Polavaram will be a large reservoir making huge backwater submergence in Odisha.
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2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Vedanta did not pay water bills: Orissa
September 05, 2011 10:04 IST

Vedanta Aluminum Ltd (VAL), already struggling to get environment and forest clearances for its Orissa projects, is now faced with a new challenge.

The state government's water resources department has alleged the company's Jharsuguda unit has not paid Rs 10.94 crore (Rs 109.4 million) of its bills, since 2008.

Vedanta has denied the charge, saying there is lack of clarity in the way the Orissa government is charging industry in the state.

The state government has given a list of water bill defaulting units to the high court in which VAL also figures. The company confirms the state government has raised the issue.

"There was a difference of opinion on the amount to be paid to the government, as we were not using water from the source allotted to us. When we started operations in 2008, the pipeline from the source was not ready, so we used water from a different source," a company official said.

Vedanta had approval from the state water development authority to draw up to 10 million gallons per day from the Bedan river. Though the company got approval, no agreement was signed.

"The government had said that there are dues of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) during the period. Since there was no agreement, it is a violation, so they have imposed six times the penalty on Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million)," the official added.

The Orissa government had allotted 30 million gallons per day (mg/d) for Vedanta's captive power plant and 20 mg/d to the Jharsuguda unit from the Hirakud dam.

Vedanta Aluminum Ltd (VAL), an associate company of the globally diversified Vedanta Resources Plc, operates a 500,000-tonne aluminium smelter presently in operation and a 1,215 Mw captive power plant in Jharsuguda. It is also commissioning an independent power plant of 2,400 Mw in Jharsuguda.

Its Lanjigarh unit, which operates a one-million tonne per annum aluminium plant, is also facing water trouble. The company was allotted five mg/d water from the nearby Tel river.

According to the Industrial Policy of 2001, benefit is given to an industry for setting up operations in remote locations.

A company can get a 25 per cent rebate if it uses water from a regulated source and 50 per cent rebate if it uses from unregulated sources.

VAL says it is eligible for a 50 per cent rebate but the state government is unwilling to give it. It has written to the industrial department to look again into the matter.

The company is also in talks with water resources department officials.

2011-08-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Chhattisgarh approaches SC against Polavaram dam

31 August 2011
press trust of india
NEW DELHI, 31 AUG: Chhattisgarh government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking its directions to restrain Andhra Pradesh from continuing construction of a dam on the river Godavari at Polavaram, saying the clearances given to the project are illegal and the project threatens the environment and tribals of the state.
Chhattisgarh is the second state after Orissa to move the apex court against the Polavaram project by AP government.
“The project will threaten valuable ecology and wildlife. The project will bring misery to thousands of tribals by submerging more than 300 villages in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa,” Chhattisgarh government said.
The state contended around 2015.52 hectares of land falling in South Bastar, Dantewada in Chhattisgarh will be submerged by the dam and the environment clearances have been granted to the project without conducting public hearings in the area.
“Chhattisgarh is a tribal state. A very large population of tribals will be displaced due to submersion of areas. The area is a notified area under Schedule-V of the Constitution and therefore the permission of Gram Sabha is required under the PESA (Panchayat Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act),” the petition filed through advocate Mr Atul Jha said.
“In this regard, it may be noted that the ministry of tribal affairs, in its order dated 17 April, 2007, granting clearance to the Polavaram Project has noted that there had not been any consultation with the Gram Sabhas in the affected areas in the states of Chattisgarh and Orissa,” it added.
Chhattisgarh has sought “removal of all structures related to the Polavaram project”.
It pleaded the environment clearance, forest clearance, resettlement and rehabilitation clearance and Central Water Commission's clearance granted to the project should be declared illegal and null and void.
“The project proposals were suitable in the times when it was conceived (in 1978). But over the years, many changes have taken place in the society and its priorities. The proposed displacement of such a huge population and settlement is likely to cause degradation in their lives,” it said.
In its petition, Chhattisgarh questioned the legality of the Polavaram project saying its construction is in “blatant violation” of laws as well as the 1978 and 1980 agreements between Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the final award of 7July, 1980, passed by the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal.
“CWC (Central Water Commission) and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs have shown complete disregard to the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal (GWDT) Award, 1980, and to illegally facilitate the construction of Polavaram dam at the cost of state of Chhattisgarh,” it said. “The Ministry of Tribal Affairs gave clearance on such a project formulation which are not part of GWDT Award. Therefore, the order dated April 17, 2007 (granting clearance) issued by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is erroneous and needs to be cancelled,” it added.

Polavaram Politics

2011-08-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

After Orissa now Chhatisgarh filed a petition in SC over Polavaram damhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; Bhubaneswar: Chhattisgarh government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking its directions to restrain Andhra Pradesh from continuing construction of a Polavaram dam on river Godavari. In a petition filed before the Apex Court Chhatisgarh Govt. has said, the clearances given to the project are illegal and the project threatens the environment and tribals of the state.

Chhattisgarh is the second state after Orissa to move the apex court against the Polavaram.

"The project will threaten valuable ecology and wildlife. The project will bring misery to thousands of tribals by submerging more than 300 villages in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa," Chhattisgarh government said.

Orissa is already filing a legal battle over Polavarm project. The Apex Court had already constituted M. GopalKJrishnan Committee to look into the matter. The Committee had submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

Chahtisgarh Govt. claimed that, around 2015.52 hectares of land falling in South Bastar, Dantewada in Chhattisgarh will be submerged by the dam and the environment clearances have been granted to the project without conducting public hearings in the area.

Sindol Imbrogilo

2011-08-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Protests against Orissa hydro-power projects intensify

Bhubaneswar, Aug 24 (IANS) Protests against three hydro power plants Orissa plans across river Mahanadi intensified with thousands of people Wednesday staging a massive demonstration at district headquarters town of Sambalpur, an organiser of the protesters said.

Carrying posters and banners and shouting slogans against the state government, people from all walks of life including hundreds of women and children took out a procession, conducted a public hearing of their own and rejected the government plan.

The people who came from three districts of Sambalpur, Boudh and Subarnapur also vowed to fight if the government pushes the projects forcibly.

Orissa state-run Hydro Power Corporation last month signed a pact with NHPC Ltd to set up the hydropower plants in a joint venture across river Mahanadi, in the three districts. The plants would be built in five years’ time with a combined investment of Rs.2,600 crore to generate 320 MW power.

State Energy Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said the projects would be set up only after the consent of the local people.

However, those opposed said the projects will not only cause large scale displacements but also apprehended the reservoirs were planned to centralise storage of river water for supply to upcoming industries in the region.

‘The government has not disclosed the plans in detail. It is pushing the projects without making a comprehensive analysis of state’s water and energy scenario’, Ranjan Panda, convenor of Water Initiatives Orissa – a network of NGOs fighting on water related issues, told IANS.

Sindol

2011-08-17T02:09:00.000-07:00

Sindol on BJP’s mind
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Tuesday decided to oppose the Sindol hydro-electricity projects in the Monsoon Session of the Assembly commencing from Wednesday.

While the proposed projects are facing stiff opposition from people of four districts of Boudh, Sonepur, Sambalpur and Bargarh, the BJP Legislature Party slammed the Government for not taking the people and the Council of Ministers into confidence before announcing the projects.

“The Government should have taken up the approval of State Cabinet before signing an agreement with the National Hydro Power Corporation and the Orissa Hydro Power Corporation,” said Deputy Leader of the party in the Assembly Jayanarayan Mishra.

Facing Opposition from within the BJD, the Government will have a tough time to explain to the Opposition and ruling benches as well on the hurried manner in which the MoU was signed, he said.

With drought looming large in several districts due to erratic monsoon, the BJPLP slammed the Government for not having any contingency plan for the affected farmers.

The BJP will press for waiver of farm loan and supply of seeds and other agricultural inputs for rabi crop as an alternative measure, Mishra said.

The BJP is planning to corner the Government on the deteriorating law and order situation and the failing health services in the State.

The legislature party discussed the increasing Maoists activities in Balangir district and the Government failure to tackle the problem.

The meeting expressed concern over the threat call from a Maoist activist to the party leader in the Assembly KV Singhdeo and the murder of a BJD functionary by the Left wing extremists. Six legislators, including BJP supported Pratap Sarangi (Ind), attended the meeting. Bonai MLA Bhimsen Choudhury who was suspended from the party was absent.

2011-08-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Govari river swallows templehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Indian express Express News Service , The New Indian Express
Posted on Aug 15, 2011 at 11:37am IST

KENDRAPARA: A temple built in 1949 to commemorate the death of Mahatma Gandhi, at Barimula village in the district stares at an uncertain future. On the verge of being swallowed by the Govari river, the temple, with a statue of Gandhi, is a prime example of maladministration.

The district administration has remained indifferent to the issue, locals allege.

“A few locals had tried to restrict the advancing water with stone embankment.

However, the move was opposed by villagers from the opposite bank and the temple was left to perish,” rued president of Orissa Freedom Fighter’s Association of Kendrapara, Purusotama Nayak.

Earlier, a large tract of land was earmarked for expansion of the temple. However, it remains unrealised as the river water has slowly engulfed the land. However, the temple has not lost its sheen and is still revered by locals. It is decked up to mark the Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti and is frequented by people from all walks of life.

2011-08-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

Pollution in Ganga claims more lives than bomb blasts: L K Advani

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today expressed concerns over the increasing level of pollution in the river Ganga, saying it was claiming more lives than those caused by bomb blasts.

In his latest blog posting, Advani quoted Swami Chidananda Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, to argue that the pollution in Ganga was a serious matter.

"Today most people do not realize that nearly a million people living along the banks of the Ganga die each year due to illnesses caused by its polluted water...,"

"A few dozen people dying in bomb blasts in India becomes big news worldwide, and rightly so. But the tragic deaths of many people, who are dependent on the Ganga, goes unnoticed even in India. We must change this," he said, quoting Swami Chidanand.

"Ganga is languishing in such polluted state that people hesitate to bathe in her waters even in Kashi. This is caused by reckless and ill-planned industrialization and urbanization, made worse by lack of elementary civic facilities in towns and villages along it," Advani observed.

In the upper reaches of the river, hydro-electric projects have caused considerable damage to the Ganga and its natural ecology, leading to drying up of long stretches of the river-bed and depriving the nearby villagers of their main source of water, he said.

Suggesting measures to clean the river, the BJP leader quoted Swami Chidanand, "We must launch a mission, which I call the 3-T Mission -- toilet in every home, tap in every home bringing clean water, and tree-plantation on a massive scale in every village and town."

"Millions of Indians abroad would be inspired if India takes up this comprehensive Ganga Mission. They would even be willing to make generous contribution to this project," Advani said on his blog, quoting Swami Chidanand.

Sindol

2011-08-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

Sindol project: Government assures water to farmhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to pacify the growing discontentment over the decision to go ahead with the Sindol power project, the State Government on Wednesday announced setting up of mega lift irrigation points on both sides of the barrage. Farmers of three Western Orissa districts -Boudh, Sonepur and Sambalpur- are strongly opposed to the National Hydro Power Corporation’s (NHPC) Rs 3,000-crore hydro power project. The Sindol project was scrapped several times in the past because of strong opposition from the locals who fear submergence of large tracts of agricultural land and several villages. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said that the project will not be implemented while campaigning for Rairakhol bypoll in 2003, which the Biju Janata Dal eventually won. But the Government has again revived the project sparking off large-scale opposition. The Government maintained that the farmers of Boudh, Sonepur and Sambalpur will benefit from the proposed lift irrigation points to be set up on both sides of the project. The decision was taken at a high level meeting at the secretariat here presided over by Naveen. The Government clarified that there would be no submergence of villages or paddy fields as it has been decided to reduce the height of the barrages. The three units of the project would together generate 320 MW after completion of Sindol-I, II and III. Softening its earlier stand, the Congress maintained that the party will study the situation and announce its decision, if there will be no submergence and displacement due to the project. The Congress has asked the Government to clarify how many villages will be submerged and the families to be displaced by the project. The BJP has opposed the project. The party had even passed a resolution against the project in the recently held State executive and threatened to launch an agitation if it was not scrapped.

Sindhol

2011-08-11T01:11:00.000-07:00

Public hearing before Sindol project: Min
Source : Press Trust of India
published on : 8/3/2011 9:18:23 PM

Bhubaneswar: With resentment brewing in three districts of western Orissa over NHPC's Sindol project, the state government on Wednesday said it would conduct public hearings before implementing Rs 2,600 crore hydel project.

"We will take views of the local people before going ahead with the project," state energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak told reporters here.

Though the state government had been claiming that no one would be displaced or no agricultural land be submerged due to Sindol project, to be implemented in a joint venture between the public sector NHPC and the state-owned OHPC, the local people did not accept it.

According the MoU signed between NHPC and OHPC in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on July 21, Sindol project would have three different hydro-power generation stations with installed capacity of 320 MW. The hydel power generation stations would be located in Sambalpur, Sonepur and Boudh districts.

The people in Sonepur on Wednesday observed a 12-hour bandh at the district headquarters opposing Sindol project.

The controversy over the Sindol project had meanwhile taken political turn with opposition Congress and BJP demanding clarification from the state government. The ruling BJD MLAs from the three districts have also expressed their concern over the state government's action of signing MoU for Sindol project without reading public mind.

Health minister Prasanna Acharya, food and supplies minister Niranjan Pujari and former minister and sitting Birmaharajpur MLA Padmanav Behera, have meanwhile expressed their displeasure over the state government's action of going ahead with the controversial Sindol project without consulting the people's representatives.

Mahanadi

2011-08-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

Collector assures Inquiry into crop damage

Indian Express 25th July 2011

Sambalpur: Enraged farmers met Sambapur Collector Mrinalini Darswal here on Monday demanding adequate compensation for paddy crop damaged due to emission from the smelter plant of Hindalco at Hirakud. They were led by Sambapur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sanghatan (SZKSS) president Murari Prasad Purohit.

Darswal assured the farmers to visit damaged farms and take up the issue with Hindalco management. On 23rd July farmers from Nua Jamda, dengimocha and Mohmadpur villages in the vicinity of the smelter plant of Hindalco found their paddy sapling damaged due to release of Suspended particulate matter (SPM) from the plant. Paddy sapling in over 25 acres of land across in three villages were destroyed while standing crop on about 15 acres in Nua Jamda village were damaged.
Later the villagers informed the deputy director of agriculture Ashok Mohanty who dispatched a team of scientists to the spot. The team confirmed damage to the crops.

Sindhol Updates

2011-08-09T22:42:00.000-07:00

Shutdown in Orissa against power plantshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Bhubaneswar, Aug 9 (IANS) Normal life was affected in two Orissa districts Tuesday with people blocking roads and carrying out marches to protest proposed power plants in the area.

Vehicles went off the road in several places of Sambalpur and Boudh districts due to the daylong shutdown called by Kosal Kranti Dal and Sambalpur Lawyers Association.

Shops, business establishments, schools and colleges were also found closed in leading towns in both the districts, a senior police officer from the region told IANS.

Train services were also affected as protestors squatted on rail tracks at places like Rairakhol and Sambalpur, he said.

The state-run NHPC Ltd last month signed a pact with the state government to set up hydropower plants in Subarnapur (100 MW), Sambalpur (100 MW) and Boudh (120 MW) districts across Mahanadi river in western Orissa.

The government said there will be no displacement due to these projects. It said public hearings will be held in the project area in view of opposition.

However, residents are not buying the arguments.

"The government should scrap the project. Why does the government want to conduct public hearings when the projects are already facing opposition," P.K. Rath, a protest leader, told IANS.

The hydropower generating company will build the plants in five years' time in a joint venture with the Orissa state-run Hydro Power Corporation with a combined investment of Rs.2,600 crore to generate 320 MW power.

Protestors said the projects would hit at least 118 villages wholly or partially and would bring untold miseries and devastation to people of the area.

People also fear the plants will submerge several temples, including the world famous Huma Temple in Sambalpur district.

"People had stoutly opposed this project in the past, why is the government pursuing it again and again," another protestor asked.

Odisha Environment

2011-08-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

Environment Minister Natarajan says 31 projects from Orissa awaiting environmental clearance

Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan says 31 projects from Orissa awaiting environmental clearance.

A total of 31 projects from Orissa in the sectors of industry, mining and port projects are awaiting environmental clearance as on 31.07.2011 with the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

The perceived delay in according environmental clearance inter-alia includes non-compliance of the procedures of the EIA Notification 2006 and Circulars of the Ministry, inadequate information on critical environmental parameters, and deficiencies in the Environmental Management Plans by the project proponents.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written reply to a question by Shrimati Renubala Pradhan in Rajya Sabha today.

List of Projects in Orissa Pending for Environmental Clearance

Name of Projects
1. Sponge Iron Plant at District Cattack, Orissa by M/s Virajaa Steel & Power (P) Limited
2. Integrated Steel Plant at District Dhaenkanal, Orissa by M/s Bhushan Steel Limited
3. Integrated steel complex at Village lPotapali/Sikirdi, District Sambalpur, Orissa by M/s. Rathi Steel and Power Limited.
4. Expansion of production of Fibre Cement Corrugated Sheets Accessories from 8,56,000 MTPA to 12,50,000 MTPA at Korian District Dhenkanal Orissa by M/s UAL Orissa Limited (MRPL)
5. Expansion of Integrated Steel Plant at Topadih in District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Deepak Steel & Power Limited
6. Expansion of Clinker Grinding unit at Jharsuguda Cement Works district Jharsuguda Orissa by M/s. Ultra Tech Cement Limited
7. Expansion of existing Pellet Plant with 0.1 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant at Matkambeda Industrial Estate District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Arya Iron & Steel Co. Private Limited
8. Integrated Seel Complex at Katasahi District Keonjhar Orissa by M/s. Kamaljeet Singh Alhuwalia

B. NON-COAL MINING

9. Dubna-Sakradih Iron & Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd., Village(s) Handibhanga, Jampani, Badakalimati, Dubuna, Purunadih, Naibaga and Basantpur, District Keonjhar

10. Talangi Chromite Mine “B” of M/s. IDCOL Ferro Chrome & Alloys Ltd. located at Distt. Jajpur

11. Chhuinpalli Quartzite Mining Project of M/s Tata, Village Chhuinpalli, district Jharsuguda

12 Kasia Iron Ore Mines of M/s Tej Bahadur Lal located at Vill-Kasia, Distt-Keonjhar

13 Sanindpur iron & Manganese Mine of M/s National Enterprises located at Distt. Sundergarh

14 Bhadrasahi Iron and Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Orissa Minerals Deevlopment Co. Ltd. , Village Bhadrasahi, District Keonjhar

15 Thakurani Iron Ore Mining Project of M/s Kaypee Enterprises located in Village Thakurani, Tehsil Barbil, District Keonjhar

16 Bhadrasahi (Kolha-Roida) Iron & Manganese Ore Mine of M/s (Bharat Process & Mechanical Engineers Ltd.) C/O The Orissa Minerals Development Co. Ltd., Village Bhadrasahi, Distt. Keonjhar

17 Nuagaon Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant of M/s Kamaljeet Singh Ahluwalia, Village Guali & Barpada, Distt. Keonjhar

18 EC for Bolani Ore Mines of M/s SAIL, Distt. Keonjhar

19 Tikarpara Pyrophyllite & Quartzite Mines of M/s Banwarilall Newatia, Village Tikarpara & Ambadhara, Distt. Keonjhar

20 Expansion of Khondbond Iron & Manganese Ore Mine of M/s Tata Steel Ltd., Village Khandbond, Tehsil Barbil, Distt. Keonjhar

21 15 MTPA Iron Ore Washing & Beneficiation Plant of M/s Sarda Mines Pvt.Ltd., Village Soyabali, Tehsil-Barbil, Distt.Keonjhar

22 Expansion of Iron Ore Mine of M/s Kalinga Mining Corp., Village Joruri & Khandbandh, Distt. Keonjhar

23 Gonua Iron & Manganese Mines of M/s M.G. Mohanty, Village Gonua, Distt. Sundergarh

24 Jalahuri Iron and Manganese Ore Mining Project of M/s Mala Roy & Others, Village Jalahuri, District Keonjhar

25 Environmental Clearance of Inganijharan Iron & Manganese Ore Mines of M/s Bhanja Minerals Pvt. Ltd located at Vill-Dadwan&Khuntapani, Distt-Keonjhar

C. COAL MINING

26 Basundhara OCP (2.4 MTPA to 8 MTPA and increase in lease area from 401 ha to 437.10 ha) of M/s MCL, Dist. Sundergarh

27- Expn. of Coal Beneficiation Plant (2 MTPA to 4 MTPA) of M/s Global Coal & Mining Pvt. Ltd., dist. Angul

28- Talabira-1 Coal Mine Project (expansion from 1.5 MTPA to 3 MTPA over 170.305 ha) of M/s HINDALCO located in district Sambalpur

29 Establishment of 5 MTPA Coal Washery of M/s Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd., located at village Malibrahamani, Tehsil Chendipeda, Dist. Angul

D. PORT PROJECTS

30 Development of all weather deepwater port (phase-I and Phase II only) at Subarnarekha River, Balasore Dt., Orissa by M/s Creative Port Development Pvt. Ltd.

31 Development of Southern Dock Complex for construction of Multi-Purpose Clear Cargo Terminal and Oil terminal at Paradip Port of M/s Paradip Port Trust

2011-07-29T22:25:00.001-07:00

Orissa CM directs officials to set up mega lift irrigation points on either side of proposed power projects

Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; Bhubaneswar: Chief Minsiter Naven Patnaik on Wednesday directed the Water Resources Department to set up mega lift irrigation points on either side of the proposed three barrages of the Sindol hydro power projects on river Mahanadi even as the projects are mired in controversy.

The Chief Minister, while reviewing the renovation of the irrigation projects at the State Secretariat here, said that with the setting up of the mega lift irrigation projects alongside the three stages of the Sindol-1, Sindol-II and Sindol -III projects, the farmers of the three drought-prone districts of Boudh, Sambalpur and Subarnapur would get the desired irrigation facilities.

At the meeting, the Chief Minister expressed concern over the acute moisture stress with lurking drought-like situation in at least six districts, Boudh, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Ganjam and Bargarh. He directed the Energy and Water Resources Departments to renovate the lift irrigation points lying defunct and asked the electricity distribution companies to immediately give power connection to the LI points pending disposal of the outstanding dues with round-the-clock power supply to help the farmers avail irrigation facilities.

According to official sources, as many as 1,758 LI points in the State are defunct and 13,861 points are functioning providing irrigation to an estimated 3.11 lakh hectares of land. Since the defunct LI points are in the blocks with below 35 per cent of irrigation potential, the Chief Minister directed the authorities to take immediate steps to make the LI points operational.

It was decided at the meeting that the Government would provide incentives to those Pani Panchayats working for the proper and efficient management of LI points. The Chief Minister also asked the Energy and Water Resources Departments to immediately repair and renovate the defunct LI points.

The Chief Minister asked the Energy Department to take steps for one-time settlement of the outstanding electricity dues and finalise the estimates relating to providing electricity connections to the defunct LI points.

With serious moisture stress and apprehension of Kharif crop loss, the Chief Minister relaxed the norm for setting up of new LI points.

2011-07-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

Orissa should have policy for keeping rivers, sea unpolluted
PTI | 07:07 PM,Jul 28,2011

Balasore, (Orissa) July 28 (PTI) Orissa endowed with rich natural resources should urgently adopt a policy to keep its rivers and sea free from contamination, Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh said today."Unplanned industrialization and massive destruction of forest will result in drying up many perennial water sources in existing rivers in the state," Singh, popularly known as 'water man' who won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2001 for his pioneering work in water management, told a seminar."The state government must ensure that no industry should pose danger to water sources. Otherwise, drinking water will be an acute problem for society," he said.Stressing on the importance on soil conservation, he said, "instead of indiscriminate construction of concrete spurs and barrages on rivers, tree plantation along the river will keep it free from pollution and help soil conservation." Water conservation, particularly rain water conservation for which he became so popular was not knowledge acquired from any university, but a lesson from illiterate cultivators who learnt from their experience, Singh said. PTI COR AAM PC

Mahanadi Conflict

2011-07-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Mahanadi water allocation draws HC attention
Jul 27, 2011, 11.33pm IST

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has directed the state government to file a reply on allocation of water from river Mahanadi to different industries within two weeks. The directive came from the bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice B N Mohapatra on Tuesday following a PIL filed by Gouranga Charan Hota, convenor of Mahanadi Banchao Andolan, opposing water being allocated to industries.

The petitioner stated that according to the Water Policy of 2007, river water should be first used for drinking and followed by irrigation. But the state government is busy allocating the river water to industries without considering the plight of the common man and farmers.

The petitioner cited that Mahanadi water has been allocated to industries like Posco and Oil India Limited. This diversion would lead to acute shortage of water and?farmers would face problems in irrigating their land

Polavaram Politics

2011-05-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

Orissa Argues About Polavaram Dam With Expert Panel
PTI | Bhubaneswar | May 27, 2011

Strongly objecting to the construction of multi-purpose Polavaram dam in Andhra Pradesh, the Orissa government has drawn the attention of the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee to four different aspects of the project, including the design, officials said today.

The state government along with neighbouring Chhattisgarh in a joint memorandum to the expert committee, headed by Gopalkrishna, said that the Polavaram project would adversely affect the two states if its design was not changed, said Water Resource secretary Suresh Mohapatra.

While Polavaram project was initially made with a capacity for flow of 36 lakh cusecs, it was later increased to 50 lakh cusecs after changing its original design, he said.

The state government, represented during a spot verification by the committee at the project site by engineer-in-chief Harish Behera, said the proposed embankment in a river in Orissa, would lead to the submergence of many tribal villages in Malkangiri district.

Besides, Behera also pointed out that the mandatory palli sabha (village council) meeting was not held in areas likely to be affected due to the project. "Therefore, we have every reason to oppose the project," Behera said.

Earlier, the state government had moved the Supreme Court seeking a halt to the Polavaram project as it was allegedly being constructed by violating several laws and an agreement between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Water Conflict in Brahmani

2011-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Odisha Farmer leader to start indefinite hunger strike from 23rd Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Dhenkanal: The rengali right canal project has been started from the very beginning of 1996, the total expense till date is 723 crores, the proposed irrigated land will be 1 lakh 4 thousand 92 hector. Whereas, out of this irrigated land Lanco industry got 376 hector, GMR kamalang got 455 hector and NTPC, Cesc & Chambal got thousands of hectors.

The District administration favors illegally to the corporate whereas the farmers’ face a lots of problems in the district. The latest example is the Talabarakote village, where the Horticulture gave 2 lakh 20 thousand 543 rupees for Pamolin farming in 51.8 acres. But, astonishingly, now these 51.8 acres of land was donated to the proposed NTPC unit along with thousands of acres of kaju plantation. Installation of 6 electronic traffic systems in a small city like Dhenkanal with the help of 35 Lakhs from Lanco & NTPC establishes the nexus between the district body & the corporate.

There was a tender fixing of 6.25 crores in the Left canal and crores & crores in the right canal project, where the quality of construction & work is very poor. The vigilance knows everything, but it was silent. This shows the integrity of the district administration for eradication of the corruption.

The assistant director of factories & boilers of dhenkanal filed 46 cases against the Bhusan company in the hon’ble court of the SDJM, Dhenkanal. But, he does not know the number of hearings. That means, we’ll go on making cases against the companies, but not thinking of the hearings or judgments’. This proves the exact aim of the director.

The ministry of environment & forests of government of India suspended the final approval under section 2 of the Forest ( Conservation ) Act, 1980 for diversion of 61.48 ha of revenue forest / DPF in Dhenkanal & Angul districts of odisha for setting up of an integrated steel plant by Bhusan steel & strips limited on 11th December 2006 and ordered the state government to take serious actions against the violators. But till date no action was taken by the administration.

The assistant engineer & BDO of the sadar block make serious corruptions having nexus with selected contractors.

The assistant general manager of the supply corporation make a scam of around 5 crores with the help of 19 milers during 2009 -10 paddy procurement by taking lakhs of gunny-bags of the farmers illegally.

The 27 farm ponds done by the soil conservation department has not gone to the real beneficiaries.

ICOMM, the contractor of village level electrification in dhenkanal, on 8th april 2010 tried to make electrical connections at karadabani of nihalprasad thana without taking prior permission, for which one innocent labor of ICOMM from khamar thana Dibakar Behera burnt by electric-shock & then died. But, till date no enquiry was done by the departments.
9.86 acres of debottar land was given by the district administration to the ARSS company for establishment of a mega crosser unit at Nityanandapur, by not obeying the judgment of the hon’ble high court given during 1961. Also the enquiry report regarding this made by the continuing sub-collector Biswanath Acharya has been deliberately misplaced by the officials.

From the above serious points, you can easily think up the integrity of the district administration and their feelings for the poor & the farmers. The elected representatives & party leaders are only thinking for the betterment of themselves & their respective parties. This hurts a lot to the most – innocent dhenkanal people. They’re now self – motivated for any type of agitations for the cause of their right to live in a democratic country like India.

For this, only by a call of krishak sangharsh samiti, nearly 5 thousand farmers from all panchayats of the district rushed to the collector’s office with their own vehicle arrangements on 30th march 2011 and handed over a note of 35 demands to the collector for the governor.

On 4th April at 10.30 am Dhenkanal collector Girish S.N. discussed with , the convener of krishak sangharsh samiti and eminent farmer leader Er. Debashisha Hota, regarding the problems of the farmers to find out the practical & immediate solutions. The scheduled meeting was attended by the PD-DRDA, Dhenkanal Sub-collector, Minor Irrigation Executive Engineer, Flood Executive Engineer, presidents of all Pani-Pachayats, District Civil Supplies Officer and Deputy Director of agriculture. The important demands agreed by the collector are vigilance enquiry to unfold the corruption of crores of rupees in paddy procurement, high-level enquiry for the illegal selling of Sri Raghunathjew lands to ARSS for a mega crosser unit at Nityanandapur, transfer the elephants to the nearest wild-life, change the venue of Gajamara NTPC proposed unit to some other area having more non-agricultural lands, take serious action against Bhusan steel, BRG steel & Rana sponge for their uncontrolled air & water pollution, stop giving river & canal water and agricultural lands for industrialization and agricultural industries should be encouraged.

Today, at the conference hall of hotel debkanya, a press meet was done by the district committee of Krishak Sangharsh Samiti, where Er. Hota threatened for hunger strike till death from coming 23rd May for the sake of the poor farmers of this district, since the collector has disobeyed the agreed 20 demands.

The district secretary Niranjan Sahoo, district treasurer Ranjan Kumar Lenka, district executive body members Pravakar Poi, Sribatsa Biswal, Brajabandhu Sethy, Bijay Ketan Pradhan, Kuna Naik, Kamakhyanagar Block President Pramod Kumar Sethy, Kankadahad Block President Vagirathi Baral & Odapada Block President Sudhakar Sahu, threatened to paralyze the entire district after 23rd May, if the collector disobeys his own decisions.

Power Politics in Water

2011-05-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

Odisha Government approved proposal of two power projects in the state

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: The single window committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik has approved proposal of two power projects in the state. M/S Praima Power and Infra Ltd will set up a 60 MW production capacity power plant at Gania of Nayagarh district with an investment of Rs 300 crore . About 80 persons will be employed and it will use water of Mahanadi river.

Similarly M/S Konark Kranti Energy Ltd will set up a 110 MW power plant at Baghiapada of Boudh district with an investment of Rs 435 crore . About 70 persons will be employed and it also use Mahanadi river water.

2011-04-26T23:58:00.000-07:00

Mapping of rivers under consideration
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
BHUBANESWAR: Orissa is contemplating mapping all river systems in the State on various parameters in the wake of pollution being perceived due to release of waste water by industries and urban local bodies into rivers.

“While allocation of river water for agriculture and industrial purposes is a highly debated subject, quality of river water is slowly emerging a major concern. We are thinking of preparing indices for each river,” State Forest and Environment Secretary Aurobindo Behera said one the sidelines of a seminar here on Sunday.

“We would like to know where we are on different parameters such as quality, quantity, usage and discharge of waste water being released into river water by industries and urban local bodies,” Mr. Behera said.

The Forest and Environment Secretary said the present policy and enforcement mechanism to tackle river pollutions also needed to be reexamined.

“Moreover, urban centres are expanding across the State. The daily effluent being generated from cities are also dumped in rivers. It will create a problem in future,” he said.

The State government has signed a memorandum of understanding with private companies for close to 100 projects including steel manufacturing, thermal power and alumina refinery.

According to industries department, about 30 projects in the steel sector have started partial production in addition to about 100 sponge iron units. Most of the upcoming industrial and mining projects are coming up depending on water in rivers like Mahanadi, Brahmani and Baitarani.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/25/stories/2011042561790400.htm

River Linking

2011-04-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

India priortises 5 river interlinking projectshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Out of a total 30 river linking projects, the government has shortlisted five including the Godavari-Krishna and Dawan-Ganga-Pinjal schemes
Published on 04/15/2011 - 09:52:54 AM

Kolkata: The central government is currently giving priority to five river interlinking projects, including the Godavari-Krishna and Dawan-Ganga-Pinjal schemes, a senior official said.

"There are a total of 30 river linking projects. We are now giving priority to five," Central Water Commission Chairman AK Bajaj said.

The five projects include Ken-Betwa rivers interlink between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Par-Tapi-Narmada rivers and Dawan-Ganga-Pinjal rivers between Gujarat and Maharashtra, Chambal-Kali-Sindh rivers between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and Godavari-Krishna rivers between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Bajaj said.

According to him, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra have agreed to share water with other states, but states like Orissa and Chhattisgarh were raising some issues, reports IANS.

On India's water sharing with other countries, Bajaj said: "Our country has water sharing treaties with all SAARC nations, except Sri Lanka."

"Nepal is not sharing water with us, but Bhutan is pragmatic in water sharing as 50 per cent of the country's gross domestic product comes from selling electricity," Bajaj added.

Polavaram Politics

2011-04-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

Chhattisgarh to file petition in SC soon
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar April 05, 201http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif1, 0:39 IST

No difference of opinion with Orissa, says Chhattisgarh minister

The row over the controversial Polavaram project is set to intensify further with the Chhattisgarh government bracing itself to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India, keeping in view the interests of its affected people.
"The negotiations with the Orissa Chief Minister were optimistic. There is no difference of opinion with the Orissa government on the Polavaram project. We are soon going to file a petition in the Supreme Court keeping in view the concerns of the people of our state to be affected by the project", Vikram Usendi, minister (forest, public enterprises & public grievances), Chhattisgarh government told media persons after emerging out of a meeting with the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

"We don't have any difference of opinion with the Chhattisgarh government as far as the Polavaram project is concerned", said Suresh Mohapatra, principal secretary (water resources), Orissa government.

Meanwhile, the hearing on the Polavaram project in the apex court has been deferred till next Monday. The Andhra Pradesh government today filed the names of three experts- M Gopalakrishnan, B M Ahuja and J Hassan with the apex court.

It may be noted that on last Friday, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Andhra Pradesh government for its failure to submit names of experts in connection with the Polavaram project within the time-frame stipulated by the court.

The Orissa government has already filed the names of experts with the apex court.

The members of the expert committee constituted by the Orissa government are Anil D Mohile, former chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC), D K Goswami, professor of IIT-Delhi and M Perumal, professor of IIT-Roorkee.

In accordance with the direction of the Supreme Court, Orissa had constituted a three-member expert committee to examine various issues pertaining to the controversial Polavaram project.

The Orissa government had approached the Supreme Court on September 4 last year, challenging the Centre's decision to give final environmental clearance for the project.

On October 4 last year, the apex court had asked the Government of India to file its response within a month to the petition filed by the Orissa government in connection with the controversial Polavaram project.

In its suit, Orissa had sought a declaration that Andhra Pradesh had no right or entitlement to undertake or proceed with the Polavaram project on the Godavari river. It had also stated that embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods.

Moreover, the extent of submergence due to design flood (which had been revised to 50 lakh cusecs from the original 36 lakh cusecs by the CWC itself) and the backwater effect along the Sabari and Sileru limbs (flowing through Orissa territory into the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh) had been finalised by the CWC without estimating the flood contributions from these limbs separately by following any rational procedure or acceptable norm, according to the petition filed by the Orissa government.

As per the estimates of the state government, the project was likely to submerge 2119.38 hectares of land in Naxalite-affected tribal areas of Malkangiri .

2011-04-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

Chhattisgarh delegation meets Odisha CM over problems of drinking water in Jagdalpur

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: A high level delegation from Chhattisgarh meets Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik at Bhubaneswar on Monday. The delegation of Chhattisgarh has discussed with the Chief Minister on Monday in the Orissa Secretariat on the problems of drinking water in Jagdalpur of Chhattisgarh.

The Chief Minister has directed to construct two barrages on Indrâvati river and Ghora canal. The funds will be given by the Chhattisgarh government for construction of above two projects. After construction of abovetwo projects, the drinking water problem of Jagdalpur will be solved.

The delegation of Chhatisgarh headed by the Minister of Forest Bikram Ussendi discussed with the Chief Minister. Secretary of Water Resources Suresh Chandra Mohapatra and other senior officers were present at the time of discussion.

Polavaram Politics

2011-03-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Public hearing on Polavaram irrigation project

Raipur, March 16 (IANS) After strong objections of Chhattisgarh, the central government has decided to hold a public hearing over a planned irrigation project on Godavari river by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the state assembly was informed Wednesday.

"Union Minister for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh has agreed to hold a public hearing on Polavaram irrigation project after the Chhattisgarh government strongly put the case before him," an official statement said.

According to the Chhattisgarh government, the project will submerge 7,500 hectares of forest land in the state and will affect population of 20 villages in Dantewada district.

The statement said Ramesh has informed Chief Minister Raman Singh by a letter about the decision to hold a public hearing.

Last week too, Raman Singh told the state assembly that the government would oppose the project "at all levels as it is not acceptable to Chhattisgarh".

Ramesh too has objected to the Andhra Pradesh going ahead with the project without settling the issue of building embankments with the Chhattisgarh and Orissa governments.

2011-03-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Idco kicks off land acquisition for ultra mega power project
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar March 18, 2011, 0:14 IST

The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Idco) has filed proposal for alienation of 3244.16 acres of land for the 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) proposed to be set up at Bhedabahal in Sundergarh district.

According to the information provided by Raghunath Mohanty, the minister for industries and steel & mines on the floor of the house, the alienation proposal has been filed for 512.21 acres of government land and 2731.95 acres of private land.

The UMPP is being taken up at an investment of around Rs 16,000 crore. The Orissa Integrated Power Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for UMPPs, has extended the deadline for submitting the response to 'Request for Qualification' (RFQ) for this project to March 31.

Water for this UMPP has been allocated from the Ib river and check dams and barrages would be put up on the river for this purpose. The project has been allotted Meenakshi, Meenakshi-B and Dipside Meenakshi coal blocks containing a total reserve of 880 million tonnes.

Besides the Bhedabahal UMPP, there are proposals to set up two additional UMPPs in the state. While the Centre proposed to set up the second UMPP in Bolangir district, five locations have been shortlisted for the third UMPP- Kirtania, Dhamara, Astaranga, Paradeep and Gopalpur. The Centre has sought additional information on the suitability of these locations and the concerned departments of the state government would furnish the information on the same, said an official source.

Orissa would get 1300 MW from the first UMPP at Bhedabahal and 50 per cent of the power generated by the other two UMPPs.

The Orissa government has signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with as many as 27 Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for setting up power plants with a combined capacity of 32,420 MW. Seventeen of these IPPs have been asked to go for super critical technologies.

In addition to this, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has announced to set up two new super thermal power plants in the state- 4800 MW plant at Darlipalli in Sundergarh district and one 3200 MW plant at Gajmara in Dhenkanal district.

The navratna power utility, with an installed capacity of 3460 MW in Orissa, will invest over Rs 50,000 crore for creating additional capacity of 9320 MW in the state by the end of 2017.

Besides setting up two mega power projects at Darlipalli and Gajamara, NTPC is also scaling up the capacity of its existing thermal power station at Talcher by adding 1320 MW (2x660 MW) through two supercritical units.

Polavaram Politics

2011-03-07T01:35:00.000-08:00

Since I have made a commitment on the floor of the House and I have stressed the need to implement the Polavaram project with the full cooperation of Orissa and Chhattisgarh, I would request for your cooperation in the matter to facilitate conduct of public hearings in Orissa and Chhattisgarh soon Jairam Ramesh, environment minister

SEEKING to mediate in the inter-state dispute over the Polavaram hydel and irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh, environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday asked the governments of Orissa and Chhattisgarh to help Andhra Pradesh in carrying out the mandatory public hearings for construction of embankments in areas under their jurisdiction.
Jairam wrote to the chief ministersof boththestatessayingthat Andhra Pradesh had already re questedthestatepollutioncontrol boards of Orissa and Chhattisgarh to facilitate public hearings fortheprojectbuthadnotreceived any response so far. The letter was sent after Jairam gave an assurance in the Rajya Sabha today that he would get the three states together to resolve the long-standing dispute over the R17,000 crore mega-project that will produce 960-MW electricity and irrigate nearlythreelakhhectaresof land.

"Since I have made a commitmentonthefloorof theHouseandI have stressed the need to implement the Polavaram project with the full cooperation of Orissa and Chhattisgarh, I would request for your cooperation in the matter to facilitate conduct of public hearings in Orissa and Chhattisgarh soon," Jairam said in his letter to RamanSinghandNaveenPatnaik. The public hearings have been necessitated by the design changesmadebyAndhraPradesh in the project because of which a fresh environmental clearance was required. Andhra Pradesh of fered to construct protective embankments on Sabari and Sileru rivers in Chhattisgarh and Orissa after the two states had had protestedagainsttheproject,complaining that it was likely to sub merge a number of their villages.

The project had initially been cleared by the Environment Ministry in 2005. Following the design changes, an amended clearance was granted in 2009 subject to the result of the public hearings to be conducted by Andhra Pradesh government in the two states. The affected areas fall under Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh and Malkangiri district of Orissa, both naxal-infested areas with large tribal populations.

Since the public hearings were not held, the Ministry had last November issued a showcause notice to Andhra Pradesh asking why the clearance must not be withdrawn.

Earlier, Jairam made a statement in Rajya Sabha on the issue after BJP's Venkaiah Naidu raise the matter and suggested that the Central government needed to intervene in resolving the dispute between the three states. He offered to arrange a meeting between the three chief ministers if that was required.
http://epaper.financialexpress.com/FE/FE/2011/03/05/ArticleHtmls/05_03_2011_005_010.shtml

Polavaram Politics

2011-03-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Jairam misled the house to give a push to Polavaram Project
"A short-time green crusader Jairam Ramesh is perhaps coming to his own colours. One of the key persons who advocated for economic liberalisation in India, Jairam became the green terror for a while by putting a halt to the projects of Vedanta, POSCO, JSPL in Orissa and many other projects in other parts. But his sudden turn to uphold the interests of TATA, POSCO, Jindal Steel and Powers in Orissa and a few other corporate houses in other parts has given him the image of a green traitor. Recently, his presentation of facts about Polavaram Project in the upper house of Indian Parliament has come as another blame for misleading the house."

In response to a Short Notice Question in Rajya Sabha on the controversial Polavaram Project of Andhra Pradesh, the Union Environment & Forests Minister for State Shri Jairam Ramesh, whose basic statutory role is that of a regulator, acted like a promoter and promissory statement in the house on March 4, 2011 that he would call a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh to clear the path for environment clearance to the project. Mr Ramesh and his promise were more in line to promote the project that was in clean conflict with his statutory role as a regulator. While role of the Environment ministry is to ensure that statutory and legal procedures are followed before a project is considered for environment clearance, the Minister clearly acted against his statutory role by making such a promise.
The Minister should instead be concerned that the Polavaram project authorities have not submitted a single half yearly compliance report since the project was given a clearance in October 2005 and, the irony is, his ministry has taken no action yet. He should also be concerned about the embankment that the ministry cleared was not part of the original plan and project proposal.

When there has been no study or assessment of the possible impacts or viability of the proposed embankment, the question thrown by Jairam against himself is, on which basis his ministry gave the forest clearance in July 2010?

During the debate on March 4, 2011 the minister also informed the Parliament that “the final stage-II forest clearance for the Polavaram Project was given way back in July, 2010” and never mentioned about non-compliance of FRA (Forest Rights Act) while giving the clearance. The minister seemed to be misleading the Parliament here.

It has been brought to the attention of the Minister by water management expert Himanshu Thakkar that the forest clearance was given by the MoEF in July 2010 without settling issues related to the Rights of dwellers living in the affected villages as required under the FRA. Gram Sabha resolutions to that effect from seven villages to be affected by proposed forest diversion for the Polavaram project have been sent to the Minister and also to the members of the statutory Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) constituted under the Forest Conservation Act. Similar resolutions from additional fifteen villages have been sent from Andhra Pradesh. Following Mr. Thakkar’s letter, Minister had responded that he would get the issues examined. The very next day, on Nov 22, 2010, Mr Ramesh himself wrote to the then AP CM Shri K Rosaiah saying, “the matter that has been made available to me clearly seems to indicate that the claims of local tribal communities do not seem to have been settled. This is a very serious matter.”

The Minister, however, having received no response from the AP Chief Minister, wrote again to the new AP CM Kiran Kumar Reddy on Jan 25, 2011 adding, “I am awaiting a response from the state government.”

In the meantime, following a detailed representation including gram sabha resolutions to all the FAC members, the statutory committee in its meeting on Oct 25, 2010 (minutes are available on MEF website) decided, “The FAC recommended that these complaints may be sent to the Ministry of Environment & Forests to take appropriate action at the Ministry level. The Ministry may give special consideration to the following:

Examine the alleged FRA violations and request the State Government to provide details on FRA compliance as per the law and circular of Aug. 2009; Examine the issue of forest land diversion for the embankments which are planned to prevent the submergence in adjoining States (the existing project report makes no mention of forest diversion for embankment even though it requires huge forest land and needs a special mention or, at least, an inclusion) in the Project proposal; Examine the discrepancies between the facts submitted when seeking clearance from the FAC and EAC respectively and take action if necessary.”

FAC being a statutory body, the state government has to satisfy the committee on the issues specifically raised by it. This is yet to happen.

Under these circumstances, the forest clearance given to the project cannot be considered final and the minister should have brought this issue to the notice of the upper house. Not mentioning these issues while talking about the Forest clearance is tantamount to misleading the house.

Here, it may also be added that the Central Electricity Authority is yet to give concurrence to the power component of the Polavaram project. Such a concurrence is a statutory requirement under section 8 of Electricity Act 2003. The CEA, in response to an RTI query has informed SANDRP that the application of concurrence from Polavaram was returned to the developer without any concurrence due to issues related to hydrology and because proposed installed capacity of 960 MW is unviable. The proposal to increase the cost of the project to Rs. 16010.45 crores from Rs. 10151.04 crores was also not accepted by the advisory Committee on Irrigation, Flood Control and Multi Purpose Projects in its meeting on Oct 27 2010 following intervention by Joint Secretary (Exp), Dept of Expenditure. A number of petitions are also pending in courts against the project. The Project was earlier given funding under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) under erroneous claims. The Command area of the Polavaram project also significantly coincides with the command areas of Pushkara and Tadipudi Lift Irrigation Schemes, both of which are also getting funds under AIBP. CAG has already raised questions about all these. Almost all the claimed clearances of the project seem to be raising a lot more questions on many fronts.
Under these circumstances, when the project looks to be moving against all laws of the land, consideration of the project by the Union government under National Project scheme (as stated by the minister in Parliament) and making it eligible for 90% central funding seems to be a more unlawful act pursued by the government itself.

2011-01-19T01:01:00.000-08:00

Compensate Salandi-Nalia river project affected people – NHRC to Orissa
18.01.2011 | 20:52
Bhubaneswar
Samir Hota

A two day camp of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) started today in Bhubaneswar. NHRC Chairperson, Justice KG Balakrishnan along with members Justice BC Patel, Satyabrata Pal and PC Sharma initiated the process of hearing 105 pending cases relating to the state.

The commission today took up a case alleging violation of Land Acquisition Act and relief and rehabilitation policy pertaining to the Rs. 99.14 crore Salandi-Nalia river sanskar project in the state. A case was filed before the commission alleging that state had failed to observe provisions of the Land Acquisition Act.

Lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy who preferred the petition on behalf of about 10,000 affected by the project in Bhadrak district of the state argued for compensation of the victims as well as rehabilitation of the project affected persons.

The commission in view of the state’s failure to present its case deployed its special rapporteur who termed implementation of the project as blatantly illegal. It was also later found that compensation was not paid, rehabilitation process was not undertaken, socio-economic survey was yet to be started and that the design of the project was changed without any prior approval.

Giving its findings today the full commission directed the state government to take immediate action and rehabilitate the displaced people and provide them the actual amount of compensation immediately. The commission also observed that Land Acquisition Act may be suitable amended if necessary.

Speaking to Law et al. News Tripathy said that it is satisfactory that the commission in its full bench expressed anguish over functioning of government officials. Saying that today’s order comes as a pain killer for the victims he hoped that the larger issues will be soon resolved after today’s scathing remarks by the commission. However, he also expressed his apprehensions over implementation and execution of the commission’s order mentioning that the commission itself was alarmed by the delay in response by the administration.

2011-01-18T01:45:00.000-08:00

NHRC to hear right violations by river projects in Orissa
Monday, January 17, 2011

Bhadrak: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will hear the Salandi-Nalia, Reba-Kapali, Kansbans and other river Sanskar projects on which there are allegation of human rights violations.

The Commission has decided to hear the cases 439/18/18/09-10 along with 410 other petitions during its Odisha camp on January 18 and 19.

All these petitions have been filed before it pertaining to human rights violations in various river Sanskar projects. The issue was first brought to the notice of the Commission in May, 2008 by noted human rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy.

NHRC had investigated twice Salandi Nalia River Sanskar Project and asked the state government to pay compensation and rehabilitate the victims.

Armed with RTI replies and success in protecting human rights of the victims in Salandi Nalia Sanskar project Tripathy again moved the NHRC.

Mahanadi Banchao Andolan

2010-12-29T10:28:00.000-08:00

Save Mahanadi outfit ups the ante

First Published : 29 Dec 2010 07:14:57 AM IST
Last Updated : 29 Dec 2010 11:52:46 AM IST

CUTTACK: The Mahanadi Banchao Andolan has upped the ante over diversion of water to industries and alleged illegalities in land acquisition, this time in particular reference to the Tata Power project at Naraj on the outskirts here. The organisation in association with the local Siddheswar Anchalik Surakshya Committee today announced it would intensify agitation against the project to protect the interests of the farmers as well as general public.
At a farmers’ rally at Naraj Marthapur, andolan leader and former minister Bijoy Mohapatra said the 1000-MW power project would have serious repercussions not only on the environment but also on agriculture, irrigation and drinking water availability in the region. Over 50,000 people of the three gram panchayats of Naraj Marthapur, Mundali and Ramdaspur would be seriously affected by the project.

The project would use about 46,684 cusec of water from the Mahanadi river which will have serious implications for water availability for different purposes. As it is the water holding capacity of the river has gone down alarmingly in the recent years, thanks to the inaction and faulty policies of the Government. Drawing of huge volume of water would lead to depletion of groundwater table while water would not be adequately available for irrigation in and around the region. Irrigation activities through Puri Main Canal, Taladanda Canal, Machagaon Canal and Gobari canal would be affected, Mohapatra warned.

Brahmani Basin Water Issues

2010-12-13T00:22:00.000-08:00

Orissa: Jindal Steel and Power violates environment and Forest Rule at Angul

Report by Sangram Ranjan Nath, Bhubaneswar: Under construction Jindal Steel and Power ltd at Angul is now openly violated forest and environmental guideline. As a result the wild lives are on unsafe position. Deforestation is going on rapidly by Jindal with out any permission from forest department.

Neither district administration nor state government take any action against that illegal activity. Source said that Jindal illegally cutting the hill and blasting dynamite and transport the stone dust. So government loosed the revenue. Kamaria hill from Krushna Chandrapur Mouja under Banarpal Tahasil area is that example. Not only the wildlife gone away from that forest and hill area but also the stone dust mixed with the Nandira river water, which is now fully polluted.

There is no satisfied answer from district administration about this matter. The forest department is also sitting silence. Jindal also destroyed many trees and engraved the underground stone illegally and constructed his boundary wall back side of Diminia hill area at Sanakerejeng village. Villagers from that area demand that if that Diminial hill will not save from mafia and Jindal Company, immediately then it will destroy very soon.

Before Odisha wildlife committee also noticed about that illegal matter to state forest and environment department, district administration and District forest office. Villgers from Jindal affected area alleged that the company is blocked their irrigation water source and using that water in his plant work, illegally.

So that affected their occupation directly. Now central forest & environment department sent a explanation notice to Jindal .Orissa diary also asked about that matter to administration, and they said they will take step against that activity very soon.
[Mobile: 9438629144]

2010-12-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

NRCP to Restore Water Quality in Rivers
14:39 IST
With a view to restoring water quality of rivers in the country, the Government has launched the centrally sponsored scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) which covers polluted stretches of 38 rivers in 178 towns spread over 20 States. Rivers Mahanadi and Brahmani in Orissa are among them. The pollution abatement works taken up under the Plan include interception and diversion of municipal sewage, setting up of sewage treatment plants, creation of low cost sanitation facilities, setting up of electric and improved wood crematoria and river front development. Sewage treatment capacity of 4064 mld (million litres per day) has been created so far in the country under the Plan. For improvement of water quality of lakes, the Government has undertaken a program of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) under which 61 lakes in 14 States at an estimated cost of Rs. 1028.20 crore have been covered. With the completion of the NRCP and NLCP programme and through effective operation & maintenance of the assets being created, water quality of these rivers and water bodies is expected to improve contributing to rejuvenation of their bio-diversity.

Deaths and mortality of fishes due to pollution in various rivers and water bodies have been reported. Occurrence of such in rivers and lakes are on account of depletion in oxygen and release of toxic materials due to disposal of sewage or industrial wastes.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Shri Mohan Jena in Lok Sabha today.

********

2010-11-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

SC orders infrastructure for Orissa-Andhra Inter-state Water disputes tribunal
26.11.2010 | 14:56
New Delhi
Upmanyu Trivedi

An unhappy Supreme Court today directed the Centre to provide all necessary infrastructure for a functional Inter-state Water Disputes tribunal which was set up to settle water dispute between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The centre has been given three months time to make all arrangements.

Both states have for once joined hands to file a joint interim application before the apex court to operationalise the tribunal which was set up by a Supreme Court order dated 6.2.2009 to adjudicate dispute between the two states arising from construction of side channel and flood canal project at village Katragada on the river Vansadhara in Andhra Pradesh.

Supreme Court bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph passed the order today for providing suitable infrastructure and accommodation for all members of the Commission and judges of the tribunal.

The tribunal although was setup on February 24 this year could not start functioning for lack of infrastructure and accommodation for judges. The bench ordered "we direct union of India to provide suitable infrastructure and suitable accommodation for members within 3 months."

The bench also observed that it is unfortunate that even after one and a half years after Supreme Court order of constitution of the tribunal it is still not functional. The bench noted "we hope union of India takes immediate steps."

The state of Orissa had in February 2006 communicated to the Central Government for constitution of a tribunal to look into its grievances on construction of a flood flow canal at Katragada under section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. The Supreme Court in a petition filed by state of Orissa had held on 6.2.2009 that, “It is now almost three years since the complaint was made by the state of Orissa but the central government has not taken any action in the matter. In this scenario, the prayer made by the state of Orissa does not appear to be unreasonable since the dispute between the two states does not confine itself to the construction of the side channel weir and the flood flow canal, but primarily involves the unilateral decision taken by the state of Andhra Pradesh to divert the river waters to the state of Andhra Pradesh, which could possibly disturb the agreement [between the two states] to share the waters of the river equally.”

2010-11-25T04:48:00.000-08:00

JSPL Orissa facing allegations of environmental law breach

The Pioneer reported that after POSCO and Vedanta, it is now the turn of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd to face serious allegations in Odisha for violating the forest rights Act and environment clearance norms.

It has been alleged that in violation of the ministry of environment and Forests specific permission to draw water only from Brahmani River at Samal Barrage, JSPL has been illegally drawing groundwater. The lowering water table has severely affected the nearby elephant habitat, leading to an increase in the incidents of man animal conflict in nearby villages.

Mr Biswajit Mohanty environmentalist also the secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa has written to environment minister Mr Jairam Ramesh and called for the withdrawal of environmental clearance for brazen flouting of the specific condition agreed upon with the MoEF. Alleging connivance of the State Government, he said officers who failed to inform the MoEF of the violations must be brought to book.

Mr Mohanty has told the minister that construction of such a huge steel plant involved use of large quantities of water required for casting and curing of concrete foundations for machinery, offices, residential quarters, boundary wall, compaction of roads, development of green belt plantation etc.

He also pointed to condition number of the environment clearance of MoEF granted to Jindal in 2007. Mr Mohanty said that “Total requirement of the water to be drawn from Brahmani river/Samal Barrage shall not exceed 14,700 cubic metre/hour. Permission has been accorded for the withdrawal of 7,000 m/hour water for Phase I by the Department of Water Resources, Govt of Orissa, vide letter dated December 11th 2006.”

As per the MoEF condition, the company has not yet completed its pipeline from the Brahmani/Samal Barrage to the plant site for sourcing the water. But it has been carrying on civil construction…site development by digging nearly 150-200 bore wells within the plant site, from where water is being pumped out. As a result, there has been a drastic reduction in the water level at nearby reservoirs, including the Derjang Medium Irrigation Project.

Besides creating irrigation problems in the nearby villages, the drastic reduction in water level has affected the wildlife. The letter states that the area adjacent to the plant site is an elephant habitat, which is used by pachyderms while migrating from Sarkosia Tiger Reserve to Chendipada and Pallahra forest, on their way to Keonjhar forest.

As a result of the water crisis, the jumbos are straying into local villages, leading to a raging man elephant conflict in the area for two years now.

The company is setting up an integrated steel plant at Badkerjang in Angul district with 6 million tonne per annum capacity and a 1,000 MW captive plant at an investment of INR 10,000 crore.

(Sourced from www.dailypioneer.com)

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-20T03:28:00.000-08:00

SC grants "last opportunity" to Centre on Polavaram row

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court today granted "last opportunity" to the Centre to file within three weeks its response on Orissa''s plea for quashing clearance granted by Environment Ministry to the controversial Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, which it fears would inundate several parts of the state.

A bench of Justices Mukundakam Sharma and A R Dave while passing the order also posted after 8 weeks hearing of the main suit filed by Orissa in 2007 challenging the construction of the project also known as Indira Sagar, which the Centre has agreed to treat as a national project.

The apex court gave the "last opportunity" as it was irked by the Centre''s failure to file the response despite its earlier directive on October 4.

It also asked the Andhra Pradesh Government to file its response within three weeks and allowed Maharashtra to file its impleadment application on the issue as the project had a bearing on the State''s interest too.

According to Andhra Pradesh government, the project will provide drinking water to three million people, produce 960MW of power and give 23,500 million cubic feet of water to the industries.

In its application, Orissa has urged the apex court to quash the clearance on the ground that it would affect the lives of thousands of people in the state due to the massive embankment being constructed by Andhra Pradesh.

Senior counsel Raju Ramachandran questioned the Centre''s logic in granting clearance when the construction of the project was being examined by the apex court.

Orissa has already filed a suit before the apex court challenging the construction of the multi-crore Polavaram project.

The state has argued that the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) had granted clearance to the project despite the fact that Andhra Pradesh failed to conduct the mandatory public hearing before constructing the 45-feet high embankment spread over 35 kms.

It maintained that the clearance was granted despite the fact that the dispute over the construction of the project was pending adjudication in the apex court.

The UPA government had earlier assured Andhra Pradesh government that it would accord a national status to the project, which means that a bulk of the project cost would be borne by the Centre.

Inordinate delay in execution of Polavaram Project has led to steep escalation of project cost from about Rs. 12,000 crore to over Rs. 17,600 crore now.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had during his last visit to Delhi urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to withdraw forest and environmental clearance to Polavaram project as it would submerge vast areas in Orissa''s Malkangiri district.

The Prime Minister, on his part, had assured him that the tribal villages would not be allowed to be submerged.

Initially planned by the British in 1941, the Polavaram project envisages construction of a dam on Godavari river and diversion of a large volume of water through a 174-km link canal to Krishna river.

Orissa government had first moved the Supreme Court after the MoEF had given its interim approval for the project in 2008.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-18T02:20:00.000-08:00

Divide between Telangana and coast hits Polavaram
Ashok Das, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Hyderabad, November 18, 2010First Published: 00:08 IST(18/11/2010)
Last Updated: 00:10 IST(18/11/2010)

The Rs 16,010-crore Polavaram dam project on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh — already a source of anguish in Orissa and Chhattisgarh — has attracted opposition from the most unexpected quarters: leaders of the ruling Congress in Telangana. The project that may displace 1.8 lakh people in the

state, as a vast swath of land will be submerged in those states, has already been served a show-cause notice from the Union environment ministry as well.
The dam, being built for five years with more than Rs3,000 crore already expended, will submerge 276 villages in Andhra Pradesh alone. Of them, 205 villages are in Telangana.

Over 1.3 lakh people in the region, mostly the Koyas and the Konda Reddy tribesmen, will be uprooted by the project. What’s more, the project will help irrigate 7.2 lakh acres in coastal Andhra region, while Telangana will get water for only 1.33 lakh acres.

IT minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who is from the Telangana region, said, "The Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala dams were built displacing Telangana tribesmen. Now, the tribesmen are set to be displaced again due to the Polavaram project."

As the dam is expected to benefit the coastal region more than Telangana, it has added fuel to the traditional rivalry between the two regions and created a sharp divide even between the Congress leaders of the regions.

For the past 24 hours, Telangana is witnessing a wave of protests, demanding a review of the dam project. This time, however, the lead is not being by the Telangana Rastra Samiti.

The central government, in view of the protests in Telangana, may not take an early call on the project. And the environment ministry's show-cause notice has brought work on the project to a standstill.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

SC hearing on Polavaram project on Thursday
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar November 17, 2010, 0:52 IST
The fate of the controversial Polavaram project is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court of India which would hear the case on Thursday.

"The Supreme Court will hear the case relating to the Polavaram project on Thursday”, Suresh Mohapatra, secretary (water resources), Orissa government told Business Standard
It may be noted that the Orissa government had approached the Supreme Court of India on September 4 this year, challenging the Centre's decision to give final environmental clearance for the project.
On October 4, the apex court had asked the Government of India to file its response within a month.

In its suit, Orissa had sought a declaration that Andhra Pradesh had no right or entitlement to undertake or proceed with the Polavaram project on the Godavari river. It has also stated that embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods.

Meanwhile, Orissa has gone soft on its demand for the conduct of public hearing for the controversial multipurpose Polavaram project. The state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has of late been unrelenting in his demand for holding public hearings for the project, announced that the state will wait till the apex court gives its verdict on the project.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had categorically stated that there was no need for conducting public hearings in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, as adequate measures were taken to prevent submergence of villages in the two states.

Rosaiah's statement had sparked off a war of words between him and Patnaik.

Reacting to Rosaiah's comments, Patnaik had said, “Our concern is that the tribal people, particularly in Malkangiri district do not suffer because of the implementation of the Polavaram project. They (Andhra Pradesh government) may be taking measures to prevent submergence of villages but public hearings must be conducted.”

The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on November 2, had asked the Andhra Pradesh government to specify the reasons for not holding public hearings for the project in Orissa and Chattisgarh even after one and a half years of issue of the letter of the ministry dated March 9 last year.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-13T00:19:00.000-08:00

Orissa to wait for apex court verdict on Polavaram

2010-11-12 22:30:00
Bhubaneswar, Nov 12 (IANS) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday said his government will wait for the Supreme Court verdict on the controversial Polavaram dam project, to be built by Andhra Pradesh on river Godavari, to chalk out its future course of action.

'We will wait for the judgment of the Supreme Court. Then we will see what needs to be done,' Patnaik told reporters here.

The Rs.12,000 crore Polavaram multipurpose project has been planned on river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. If built, it will be south India's biggest dam, providing irrigation to 7.19 lakh acres in that state.

The Orissa government first moved the Supreme Court after the central environment and forests ministry granted interim approval to the project in 2008.

The state government knocked on the door of the apex court again in September this year after the union environment and forests ministry granted final approval for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land for the project.

Chhattisgarh and Orissa fear that after completion of the project, in case of floods, the back water of the Godavari on which the dam would be built will flow into its tributaries Saberi and Sileru in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and submerge dozens of villages.

Andhra Pradesh has said it will put embankments on the river but Orissa says it will not help.

The project ran into more trouble after the union environment and forests ministry earlier this month questioned Andhra Pradesh for beginning work on the project without holding public hearing in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

Polavaram project: AP flays neighbouring states
PTI
First Published : 12 Nov 2010 10:21:10 PM ISTLast Updated : 12 Nov 2010 11:40:56 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has accused Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments of not "cooperating" in conducting public hearings on the construction of the proposed Polavaram irrigation project.

The Union Environment Ministry had issued a show-cause notice to Andhra Pradesh government to explain why it had failed to conduct a public hearing on the construction of the dam as asked by it while giving clearance to the multi-purpose project in the state.

However, Rosaiah tried to put the ball in the courts of neighbouring Orissa and Chattisgarh which have been opposing the proposed dam fearing displacement of a large number tribals in their territories.

"You will appreciate that in our federal set-up specific functions such as holding of public hearings have to be performed by the respective states. Andhra Pradesh cannot hold public hearing either in Orissa or Chhattisgarh," Rosaiah said in a letter to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

He argued that instead of asking the neighbouring states to furnish reason for not holding public hearings, the Environment Minister had been directing questions at his government in the matter.

Questioning the need for issuing the show-cause notice, the chief minister also pointed out that his government had been from time to time informing the Environment Ministry about the steps taken by it in the matter as well "inaction and reluctance" of the relevant authorities of Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Taking a serious view of Andhra Pradesh government's inaction in conducting a public hearing on Polavaram project and obtaining a fresh green clearance, the Ministry had written a letter to the state seeking an explanation on the issue.

Rosaiah asked the Environment Ministry to accord its concurrence for construction of protective embankments along the rivers Sabari and Sileru without insisting on public hearing as there was no change in the scope of the project.

Besides, flood protective bunds did not require environmental clearance as per the provisions of EIA Notification, 2006, he added.

The project was granted forest clearance on July 28 by the Environment Ministry with a condition that no land will be submerged in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and public hearing will be conducted in the two states.

2010-11-07T04:40:00.000-08:00

Orissa villagers protest Essar Steel dredging work

Hundreds of villagers under the banner of Gramya Suraksha Samiti and Paradip Krushak Mancha protested the dredging work of Essar Steel in Mahanadi River near Paradip. They were agitating over non fulfillment of their demands.

The agitation affected the sand filling work of the land acquired by the company for setting up of a six million tonne steel plant.

Villagers alleged that Essar Steel was trying to purchase private land for the project at lesser price using land mafias and ignoring the claims of the affected villagers for higher compensation. Besides they accused the company of violating costal regulation zone act, causing soil erosion, giving preference to outsiders in employment and harassing contract labour engaged in construction work.

Mr Bhagban Swain secretary of Paradip Krushak Mancha said that the company is dredging the shore line of the river in stead of its middle portion which has resulted in the river ingression into the agricultural land on the river bank.

He said that farmers are unable to cultivate paddy as the saline water has submerged their land. The company is yet to give compensation to the affected farmer. Hence, the villagers marched to the site where the company is conducting the dredging and stopped the work demanding payment of compensation.

Earlier, the villagers had protested the dredging work on three occasions following which the Essar Steel authority and district administration had given assurance to conduct survey about the soil erosion and damage suffered by the farmers by technical experts. But later nothing happened and ignoring the demands of the affected people, the company restarted the dredging work on Mahandai River. In protest, the irate villagers stopped the dredging work.

President of Gramya Suraksha Samiti, Tofan Swain said that the organization would hold an awareness meeting at Bhubaneswar on November 7 to highlight the plight of the villagers. On the other hand, Kujang tahsildar Basudev Pradhan said, the necessary permission for dredging has been given by the Cuttack division of Irrigation Department of the state government.

POSCO

2010-11-05T23:05:00.000-07:00

Olive ridley sabotages Posco's port plan
5 Nov, 2010, 05.44AM IST, Urmi A Goswami,ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The endangered olive ridley turtle could well upset South Korean steel maker Posco’s plans to construct a captive port at Jatadhar in Orissa.

The proposed port at the mouth of River Jatadhar of the Mahanadi delta would be located in close proximity to the congregation area of the olive ridley sea turtles. It would also be in close proximity to mass nesting beaches for turtles, including the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.

The olive ridley turtle is listed as a protected species under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act. Given the importance of the area for the protection of turtles, the mouth of the Jatadhar river have been designated at protected waters under the Orissa Marine Fisheries Regulation Act.

There are concerns about the impact of increased illumination from the proposed port on the nesting sites for adult turtles, as well. The large number of ports, many of which are in proposal stage, has become a cause of concern for the impact it has on marine life. The area is also home to dolphins among other species.

“Orissa has the largest nesting population of olive ridleys outside Central America. Also, the olive ridley turtle population in the Orissa coast is unique. Genetic studies show that olive ridley populations in the Pacific and Atlantic originated from India's east coast. Therefore, from the conservation perspective, protecting the habitat along the Orissa coastline takes on greater importance,” said ecologist Kartik Shanker, faculty at the Indian Institute of Science , Bangalore.

Mr Shanker is part of a group of ecologists and biologists who have drawn attention to the impact of the increased port construction on the Orissa coast.

The group also includes Romulus Whitaker of the Madras Crocodile Bank , Sudarshan Rodriguez of TISS, Sejal Worah of WWF-India. The scientists will be conveying their concerns about the need to protect the ecosystem of the Orissa coast to the environment ministry shortly. Earlier, they had submitted their views to the ministry appointed Posco review panel as well.

“Over the years, the intensity of illumination from the Paradip port has intensified although located at a distance of approximately 50 km from the Gahirmatha nesting site. We are of the opinion that the illumination and glow of light from the Posco port area will inhibit nesting from taking place at the Devi river mouth,” the biologists said in their communication.

They have drawn attention to the fact that the environment impact assessment report for the port project prepared by M N Dastur and Company made no mention of the impact the port would have on the marine environment of the area.

“The report is not a suitable document for assessing impacts on the marine environment, particularly on the globally significant population of sea turtles,” the communication states. India is a signatory to the Indian Ocean memorandum of understanding for the conservation of sea turtles and a party to the Convention on Migratory Species.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-04T00:49:00.000-07:00

Orissa's objections on Polavaram project invalid: Rosaiah

2010-11-03 15:20:00
Last Updated: 2010-11-03 17:03:12

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday asserted that the objections raised by Orissa over the construction of multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project on river Godavari were "not valid."r

Replying to a question during a brief interaction with newsmen in the State Secretariat, the Chief Minister said there was no question of Andhra Pradesh conducting a public hearing on the Polavaram project in Orissa and Chattisgarh as directed by Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

"How can we conduct a public hearing in those states? We have already taken adequate measures to prevent submergence of land in those states. The MoEF accorded environmental clearance for Polavaram only after that," Rosaiah pointed out.

The Chief Minister said the state government would "reply suitably" to the MoEF letter seeking an explanation on the construction of Polavaram.

"The Irrigation department will be replying to the MoEF letter. I have been trying to talk to Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh since yesterday but could not get across to him. I am writing a letter to Jairam today appraising the need for giving early clearance for Polavaram," Rosaiah added.

News and tweets from Hyderabad

The Chief Minister recalled that he had spoken "more than once" with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal requesting them to expedite the process of granting national status for Polavaram.

"Not only Polavaram, we are also requesting national status for Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation project but it is yet to get some clearances from the Centre," he pointed out.

Mahendra Tanaya_Vamshadhara

2010-11-04T00:48:00.000-07:00

Mahendratanaya next bone of contention
BHUBANESWAR: At a time when Andhra Pradesh and Orissa governments are involved in a legal fight in the Supreme Court over the Polavaram project, another dam project on the river Mahendratanaya by AP is turning contentious because of increasing local opposition.

The 'Save Mahendratanaya' movement (Mahendratanaya Banchao Andolan) wanted the State Government to move the Supreme Court over the issue as the AP Government had allegedly violated the 1962 agreement between the two states regarding the project.

Criticising the inaction of the State Government, convenor of the movement Srikant Padhi alleged that no action has been taken on the issue though Andhra government is proceeding with the project without any concern for the local people on this side of the border.

The State Government had planned to construct two anicuts on the river Bansadhara Bansadhara integrated project to thwart the designs of the Andhra government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation of the two anicuts at Dambapur village on the Mahendratanaya and at Champapur village on the river Jalanga, a tributary of Mahendratanaya on April 30, 2008.

Padhi alleged that though both the projects had received administrative approval, work has not progressed during the last two years. These projects will provide irrigation facilities to thousands of tribals in Gajapati and Rayagada districts and drinking water to Parlakhemundi town, he said.

The seven demands raised by the movement include finalising the tender process of the two projects and immediate start of work. He said construction work should be handed over to the military engineering service if contractors refuse to take up the project because of fear from the Naxals.

A division of the military engineering service should be set up at Parlakhemundi, he said and added that the vacant posts of assistant engineer at Parlakhemundi and junior engineer of the integrated Bansadhara project should be filled up.

After flowing 56 km in Orissa, Mahendratanaya merges in Bansadhara in Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh government has started Mahendratanaya project at Meliaput.

Save Mahanadi

2010-11-03T02:34:00.000-07:00

Save Mahanadi' activists target Tata project
Correspondent
CUTTACK: Now the Mahanadi Bachao (Save Mahanadi) Andolan activists have targeted the proposed 1000 MW thermal power project of Tata Company near Naraj and have threatened that not a single drop of river water would be allowed to be diverted to this project.
Joining in a massive rally on Sunday organised by the locals who have been opposing the project for several other reasons, the leaders of Save Mahanadi organisation threw their weight behind the local people.
Rally taken out
Hundreds of locals, accompanied by outfit activists took out a rally in the locality and organized a public meeting at a nearby school playground which was attended among others by the outfit leaders like former minister Bijay Mohapatra, Samir Dey and several other leaders.
Urging the local people to vehemently oppose the project, the speakers pointed out that valuable agricultural land in the locality would be damaged if the proposed thermal power plant comes up in the area.
They also threatened that the project if at all comes up in the locality; it would not be allowed to draw water from Mahanadi River.
The locals had been opposing the project ever since the state government issued notification about the project in November 2008.
They say the thermal power would severely disturb the local environment and the Millennium city would be the hottest place in the state thereby putting the eight lakh populace in misery.

2010-11-03T00:48:00.000-07:00

India: Illegal sand dredging threatens wildlife
Posted on Nov 2nd
The nesting beaches of famous Olive Ridley sea turtles on the Orissa coast have eroded due to illegal sand dredging carried out by a major private steel company near the mouth of Mahanadi river.

Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) Secretary Biswajit Mohanty alleged that the Essar Steel Orissa Ltd (ESOL), which is proposed to set up a six MTPA steel pellet factory at Paradip along with a 225MW captive power plant, has destroyed the nesting areas of the Olive Ridley, a schedule I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, by its dredging activities.

Mr Mohanty said the state government has allowed the world’s largest sea turtle nesting site to be destroyed and demanded the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to immediately keep in abeyance the environmental clearance granted to the company in May 2008.

The WSO secretary said the company should be asked to stop work till the completion of the enquiry into violations of CRZ rules, Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972.

The company, he further said, should be ordered to refill the sand which had been illegally dredged from river Mahanadi so that the turtle nesting beaches of Gahirmatha could be restored.

The MoEF, Mr Mohanty said, should also prosecute the officers who have failed to enforce the CRZ regulations and the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 provisions.

He said as per local reports, at least 12,00,000 c mt of sand has been dredged from the river. Two dredgers were engaged by the Company to excavate sand from Mahanadi to fill up the site.

As the ocean currents flow for eight months of year in a northward direction, such sediment load flushed out from the Mahanadi mouth is deposited on the shores of the marine sanctuary which lies to north of the river mouth.

These soft sediment beaches are prime turtle nesting areas.

However, for the last two years, there has been an unprecedented erosion of the coastline, north of river Mahanadi, Ekakula Pentha and Agarnasi areas all known sea turtle mass nesting sites.

Vamshadhara_ Mahendra Tanaya Banchao Andolan

2010-11-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

Orissa must act to counter Andhra Pradesh initiatives: Rashtriya Odia Yubak Pratisthana
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Report by Golakha Chandra Das; Bhubaneswar: It was 2 & ½ year back when Odisha Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik laid foundation for Bansadhara integrated project on river Mahendratanayaa.

It was the project which can cater the needs of water for irrigation, drinking purpose & electricity production for tribal dominated Gajapati & Rayagada district. Even the plan to construct 2 anikatas is also approved by the state technical committee as well as it got administrative approval. But the Odisha government is doing nothing on this since then. Even if the water resource department is under direct control of Chief Minister, still the department only invited tenders for this project & then it halted.

Where as the Andhra Pradesh Government is constructing the dam on its side with full swing. Odisha Government is just sitting silently observing this. It will be harmful to the people of the above 2 districts.

So Rashtriya Odia Yubak Pratisthana on Sunday in a press meet organized at hotel Keshari, Bbsr criticized the state Government for its apathy towards the Mahendratanayaa project. It blamed that Odisha Govt. is neither doing anything to stop Andhra Govt. nor taking the case to court. The ROYP threatened to start a large scale agitation against such attitude of State Govt. if it will not do anything immediately.

Also it suggests 7point charter to state Govt. 1) to apply in Supreme Court against Andhra Govt. which violates 1962 agreement by constructing project at Meliaputa on its side 2) to invite tender for Jalanga Anikata project 3) to construct immediate 2 proposed Anikatas 4) Govt. take the task by own if no one agreed to build the project 5) the task may be handed over to Military Engineering Service 6) to open a division office at Paralakhemundi 7) to fulfill the vacant post at Paralakhemundi subdivision.

Mr. Srikanta Padhy, national chairman, ROYP & convener, Mahendratanayaa Banchao Andolan addresses the journalist friends on this occasion.

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Orissa to watch AP govt’s action on Polavaram
PTI , The Hindu
Bhubaneswar, November 2, 2010
The Orissa government today said it will maintain a “wait and watch” policy on the controversial Polavaram project following the Centre seeking an explanation from Andhra Pradesh for undertaking work without holding public hearing in areas to be affected in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Orissa government, opposing the multi-purpose project since its conception, had earlier refused to hold a discussion with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K S Rosaiah.

“A senior Andhra Pradesh official called me yesterday and proposed to hold a discussion on Polavaram issue,” Orissa’s Water Resources Development Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra told reporters adding that the State government is yet to take a decision on the fresh proposal.

As the State government had already moved the Supreme Court opposing the Polavaram project, there was no point in holding talks with Andhra Pradesh, another official said adding Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in-charge of water resources development department, will decide on Andhra’s request.

Since the matter is sub-judice, the State government should wait for the Apex Court’s judgement, he said.

When the ruling BJD has launched a State-wide stir against Polavaram project, the State government demanded that law of the land be followed in case of Polavaram.

Orissa government is mainly opposed to design of the proposed dam and alleged violation of forest right act (FRA).

Under the present design, about 50 lakh cusec water would flow through the barrage over river Godavari, submerging a large tract of land in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, Mr. Mohapatra said.

To a query on Andhra government’s proposal of building a 30-km-long embankment along rivers Saberi and Saleru in Malkangiri, Mr. Mohapatra said, “Creation of embankment was not in the original plan. These embankments within Orissa territory could affect discharge of water to River Godavari. As a result, a large area could be inundated.”

It was not in accordance with the law to undertake construction work without making an environment assessment impact of the project, he said, adding there were clear guidelines to hold public hearing in affected areas but Andhra Pradesh government had not done so in Malkangiri district.

As the matter was too complicated, Orissa would like to maintain a wait and watch policy before reacting to the MoEF’s letter to Andhra Pradesh government, he said.

In its letter, the ministry has asked Andhra Pradesh government to give details of the construction status of the dam and also explain why a formal show-cause should not be issued (for not following norms).

Polavaram Politics

2010-11-03T00:40:00.000-07:00

Holes in Polavaram’s great wall
Samar Halarnkar, Hindustan Times
Email Author
November 02, 2010
A 30-km-long, 45-foot-high embankment to stop a river that generates one of the world’s fiercest floods from inundating parts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh is being belatedly questioned by the Centre as it puts on notice one of India’s largest dam projects. The wall escaped attention on Monday when India’s environment boss Jairam Ramesh — smarting from accusations of political bias for cancelling infrastructure in non-Congress states — issued notice to the Polavaram Indira Sagar project in Andhra Pradesh, a state ruled by Ramesh’s own party, the Congress.

The wall, technically an embankment, was one of the ambitious promises made in 2006 by an anxious Andhra Pradesh (AP) government after the Orissa High Court cleared the project on the condition that no people or villages would be displaced in Orissa by the Polavaram dam’s reservoir on the Godavari river and twotributaries.

The project received its final clearance — from the forests division — in September this year.

That clearance is becoming increasingly hard to justify because no studies were done, as environmental laws require, on the land, people and forests the giant embankment would displace. No plans were made for drains and pumps in a cyclone-prone land.

In India there is no reservoir that is restrained by embankments.

In referring to the wall, Monday’s bland notice asked the AP government "why a show-cause notice should not be issued … as work is continuing without getting the environmental clearance amended for additional components like construction of embankments, drainage sluices and pumping arrangements".

"How can anyone now accuse me of bias?" Ramesh, a Congress Member of Parliament from AP, said on Tuesday.

The notice was the first evidence of impartiality from India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Polavaram’s irregular clearances led both Orissa and Chhattisgrah to request Supreme Court intervention in 2007.

Yet, both states say they are not impressed with Ramesh’s recent actions.

"At last the ministry has issued a notice, but it is an eyewash," said Surya Narayan Patro, Orissa revenue minister. "The AP government did all kinds of illegal things to push the project but got clearance after clearance."

"We are not opposed to anyone getting water, but what was the hurry in clearing it (Polavaram) and then issuing notices?" N Baijendra Kumar, principal secretary to the Chhattisgarh chief minister, told Hindustan Times. "We share the concerns of the Orissa government."

Allegations of bias from Orissa and Chhattisgarh — both states that could have objected at least 12 times during the Polavaram clearance but soft-pedalled instead — grew after Ramesh’s environment ministry questioned or cancelled clearances this year to high-profile projects as prestigious to them as Polavaram is to Andhra Pradesh.

First proposed in the 1940s, the 150-foot-high Polavaram dam will submerge a greater area than any other in India today. It is vital, observers say, that Ramesh’s ministry now follows its own laws and rescinds clearances that violated its own procedures.

Here are only some examples relating to Polavaram’s great wall:

When the application to clear Polavaram went to the environment ministry on October 19, 2005, there had been no public hearings as required. The first and only public hearings in four districts of AP were held on October 28, three days after the clearance was given.

The minutes of the Environmental Impact Assessment, a requirement, did not even mention that areas in Orissa and Chhattisgarh would be swamped by the tail end of the reservoir, 150 km from the main dam. Only when the two states protested did AP hastily propose a wall, or embankment, in 2006.

In April 2007, the Central Water Commission (CWC) said it was possible to avoid submergence in Orissa and Chhattisgarh by building embankments. Neither the CWC nor any other agency ever explained how, as required.

In February 2009, the ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) first cleared the embankments and then called for an impact assessment and public hearings in Orissa and Chhattisgarh. None of this was done.

"That decision of the EAC was flawed," said Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, an advocacy group. "How can Ramesh claim (as he did in a letter to Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik in August this year) that not a hectare of forest land will be submerged, when he does not even know how much forest and non-forest land will be required (for the embankment)?"

Monday’s notice reminds AP that despite a reminder, there have been no public hearings in neighbouring states and that construction is continuing (the main dam hasn’t started yet but canal-building is in full swing).

Thakkar argues, as do Orissa and Chhattisgarh, that the condition of "no submergence", as outlined in the September 2010 forest clearance and Ramesh’s assurance, is "impossible to adhere to", that these are grounds enough for cancelling forest clearances.

"The conditions under which Polavaram was cleared were absurb," said Harish Behara, the engineer-in-chief of Orissa’s water resources department, arguing that the great Polavaram embankment could be built on the plains, not on hilly land, as AP now proposes.

With so much wrong, who then cleared Polavaram? It was Ramesh’s cabinet colleague, telecom minister A. Raja, whose methods of issuing telecom licences are, similarly, under the Supreme Court’s scrutiny.

(With Priya Ranjan Sahu in Bhubaneswar)

Inter-state Water Dispute

2010-11-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Respond on Orissa dam, Yerran to CM
November 1st, 2010
DC Correspondent
Srikakulam, Oct. 31: Observing that state government headed by the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, must respond to the Bahudi river water dispute, Mr K. Yerrannaidu observed here on Sunday that steps being taken up by the Orissa government to extend the dam would have disastrous results in adjoining Srikakulam.
Addressing members of the media, he said, “On the one hand, the Orissa government and agencies in Orissa have no qualms to objecting to the Polavaram project, However, on the other, they have the guts to construct a 107 foot dam on the river without considering its impact on people of Andhra, and those in Srikakulam in particular.”
He said that this was being done with the perverse intention of denying Andhra farmers their right to the share of water from the river. Mr Naidu said that this would create a crisis in the mandals of Itchapuram, Kaviti and Kanchili.
He said that it was time for state government to respond and urged Mr Rosaiah as well as the minister for major irrigation, Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, to respond.
He also urged ministers from the district to pay special attention to this problem and play a role in taking it to the Centre.

IWRM Road Map, Orissa :Water Pricing

2010-10-26T01:49:00.000-07:00

Orissa going for fixing price for water use

Satyasundar Barik
Under the plan, users could be charged according to the measured volume of water
Water Regulatory Authority is expected to fix the charges

Civil society groups and farmers' organisations are up in arms against the proposal

BHUBANESWAR: Is Orissa proceeding to fix a price for water? This appears to be true going by proposals elaborated in the report of Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment Programme (OIIAWMIP ).

One could get fair amount of idea about creation of market for water, identification of civic bodies as water retailers and classification of high value users.

As per the plan, users of water could be charged according to the measured volume of water. It proposes installation of metres for water measurement. It says all water allocations should be quoted in mega litres (ML) for agriculture and industry and kilolitres (KL) for domestic.

“With a common unit of measurement in place, the price will become more transparent,” says the document of Department of Water Resource and Asian Development Bank.

“Water users in Orissa do not yet have access to formal entitlements, much less access to a market or exchange where they can purchase additional rights. Once the safe yield available within a particular river basin or system becomes fully allocated, it will be desirable to establish an exchange where access rights can be traded on a temporary or permanent basis,” the document posted by DoWR on its webpage says.

It goes on to say ideally the exchange should function as a ‘market place' where the access rights can be bought and sold.

“While no one would be forced to sell their access rights, market forces would act through time to bring about efficient outcomes.

The exchange could be operated by DoWR or some reputable third party,” the document says. The OIIAWMIP report talks about earning cash if sellers would be giving up their water access right.

Water Regulatory Authority, which is expected to be in place by March 2012, could be fixing charges for surface and sub surface water used for domestic, agriculture, industrial and other purposes. “This is a dangerous idea. Gradually, access to water will become costlier. Those who have purchasing capacity can access water. When the report was prepared, stakeholders such as politicians, civil society groups, farmers, intellectuals and general water users could have been taken into confidence,” said Achyut Das, member of Odisha Water Forum.

“The proposal has been implemented to a large extent in Maharashtra.

The experience has been bad. The department has mooted pricing of water giving a reason that it would lead to more responsible use. We apprehend people who had traditional rights over water would be made to pay for the use,” said Pranab Ranjan Choudhury, another member of Odisha Water Forum.

Civil society groups and farmers' organisations are up in arms against the proposal. They demanded that the State government must elicit views of all sections of population before deciding on a critical sector like water

IWRM Road Map, Orissa :Water Pricing

2010-10-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

Orissa becoming a dry State?
Siba Mohanty First Published : 25 Oct 2010 07:39:41 AM ISTLast Updated : 25 Oct 2010 12:03:40 PM IST
BHUBANESWAR: In the midst of a raging controversy over water diversion for industry, Orissa’s woes are going to worsen. Its rivers will provide for less as the water stress grows in future. If that is not all, the rising pollution will add to its misery, the latest report on water management by Department of Water Resources and Asian Development Bank (ADB) says.
At least three rivers would experience water stress by 2050 even as the per capita availability is going to dwindle.
Calculating the water availability from 11 major river basins, it says that per capita availability will decline by 34 per cent by 2050.
The average surface and ground water potential of the State, currently at 141 billion cubic metre (BCM), would fall by at least 10 per cent to 129 BCM.
“Per capita water availability varies throughout the State according to the relationship between availability and population. As the State’s population is still expanding, per capita supply will decline sharply,” the report said.
With rising population and consequent increase in demand for food and water with growth in mining and industrial activities, the demand for water from various sectors could increase to 55 BCM by 2050, the report indicated.
The water availability decline too points at water stress condition of the rivers. Three rivers __ Baitarani, Rushikulya and Budhabalanga __ will become water stressed. The per capita water availability from Baitarani is going to decline from 1,976 cubic metre to 1,348 cubic metre whereas the drop for Rushikulya will be from 1,341 cubic metre to 1,021 cubic metre. In case of Budhabalanga, it is expected to decline from 1,616 cubic metre to 1412 cubic metre.
Although Orissa possesses 11 per cent of the country’s water resources as against a population of just 4 per cent, it’s challenge remains in the strong seasonality of supply.
Increased demand due to a growing population, economic development as well as rising consumption in upstream states will lead to a decreased inflow and falling availability. Besides, climate change will also be a big factor. “The overall scenario points to increased flood risk and hydrological uncertainty,” it explained.
Availability apart, water quality will pose a major a challenge as the industrialisation makes things worse. The report suggested a bleak situation for at least six major rivers whose water quality rarely meets drinking water standards, thanks to inadequate treatment of the municipal and industrial effluents.
The report paints a grim picture saying the entire stretch of Mahanadi is in a state of slight to moderate pollution. Of the dozen monitoring stations of Mahanadi, all except five show water quality is below acceptable levels.

Drinking Water from Reservoir

2010-10-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

Water projects hang fire in Berhampur
Sisir Panigrahy Express News Service
First Published : 26 Oct 2010 07:59:22 AM ISTLast Updated : 26 Oct 2010 12:37:51 PM IST
BERHAMPUR: To address the drinking water crisis in the Silk City, the State government has now decided to bring water from Janibili reservoir in Soroda. Though water from Soroda reservoir comes to Dakhinpur reservoir for daily supply to the city, the water is supplied through open canals due to which, 80 per cent of water goes waste.
Keeping this in view, the government has decided to bring water through pipes from Soroda reservoir. A project at the cost of Rs 250 crore has been prepared and survey work has also been completed for it. The work, however, is yet to begin although the decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here last month.
Several plans like this have been chalked out in the last three decades to address the drinking water crisis in Berhampur, yet none has materialised so far.
A case in point is the Ghatakeswar project which can be an immediate solution for the water crisis and irrigate hundreds of acres of agricultural land in Chikiti area.
Senior Congress leader Chitaranjan Dash said the Ghatakeswar project was planned during 1982 but it was limited to files till 2007 when the Government approached Nabard for financial aid.
The Nabard, accordingly, sanctioned Rs 29 crore for the project. The government, however, is yet to take measures to rehabilitate families which would be affected by the proposed project.
Apart from government land, eight acres of private land needs to be acquired and 41 families of Kankia, Sarakot and Koilikot villages evicted.
Meetings in this regard have been held umpteen times but no concrete measures have been taken till now.
Even the land identified to be exchanged for the land to be submerged by the project, could not be transferred from the Revenue to the Irrigation Department.
As a result, the Irrigation Department is unable to start the plantation work which is mandatory for forest and environment clearance.
Due to the delay, the project cost has risen to Rs 42 crore against the earlier estimate of Rs 29 crore.
Dash said the Janibili project is a welcome step but the government should also begin work on the Ghatakeswar project at the earliest for the benefit of people.

Sesptember Issue of Water Feeder

2010-10-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

The September Issue of Water Feeder in the NEW FORMAT is now posted at http://www.scribd.com/doc/39718188/Water-Feeder-Sep2010

The Editorial note is reproduced below

ODISHA’s WATER WOES CONTINUES……..

Odisha’s tryst with water-agonies either due to less-water or from excess-water is perennial. Many a times, both these extremes strike at the same time, though at different places. This unfortunate coincidence was also evident in this month, with drought spelling doom in more than 15 districts, while rain-linked cholera and diarrhea hitting a not-so prepared administration in KBK districts once again, taking heavy tolls. Started with Hirakud few years back and that around the Brahmani over past months, the debates and protests over water allocation priorities between industry and agriculture (and livelihoods and environmental flow) from state’s rivers, snowballed to a movement around the Mahanadi, with overwhelming political alignments around allocation to POSCO.

While during the first half of the month, drought situations and predictions for different districts of the state dominated the water-news in different vernacular news papers of Odisha, in the second half unfortunate deaths due to water contamination in Rayagada and Kalahandi took over the headlines. News related to water conflicts around Polavaram as an inter-state dispute and over water allocation to POSCO also continued to draw media attention with overwhelming political alignments on both of them. Pollution of river waters from untreated effluents industries as well as due to breaches in ash ponds also hogged the news paper pages, albeit with less than desired attention.

As you know, ‘Water feeder comes to you on behalf of Odisha Water Forum and Odisha State Center of Forum for Policy Dialogue on Water Conflicts in India. This monthly feed contains analysis of about 200 news items published in 5 Odia dailies (the Samaj, the Sambad, the Dharitri, the Pragatibadi, the Khabar and the New Indian Express – All Bhubaneswar editions)
This is a compilation and analysis of water-related news published in Odia and local English dailies with an objective to help water professionals and enthusiasts to capture and comprehend issues and conflicts around water (through eyes of media). It also provides geographical, seasonal and media perspectives of water issues and conflicts with respect to Odisha. This monthly feed of Water news is an attempt to stimulate interest, thoughts and actions on water issues in the state apart from feeding research and academic pursuits.

This along with past issues of RIVER BASIN TRANSACTS are available at SCRIBD, Baitarani website and India Water Portal.
Looking forward to your feedbacks and comments to improve this humble initiative,

2010-10-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Brahmani river dying ?
PTI | 04:10 PM,Oct 14,2010

Jajpur (Orissa), Oct 14 (PTI) Brahmani river, the life line of a large number of villages on its banks in Jajpur and Kendrapara districts of Orissa, has dried up due to massive siltation at its upper reaches. The river is the only source of water for over three lakh inhabitants of Bari, Rasulpur, Badachana, Dharmasala and Jajpur blocks in Jajpur district and Aul, Kendrapada, Pattamundai and Raj Nagar blocks in Kendrapada district. Units at the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex are using water from Brahmani and Kharasrota rivers illegally, alleged Biswajit Mohanty, a rain water harvesting activist. He is echoed by Gagan Behari Jena, a local and convenor of 'Save Brahmani River Committee', formed by the people. ''The situation has turned complex as this year the river has turned dry due to truant rains ... The people are not getting sufficient water to irrigate their lands due to shortage of water,'' he says. Discharge of pollutants from industrial units has degraded the river to the extent that it has become a large drain. Once a source of fish and fresh water, Brahmani has become so polluted that its water has acquired a tar-black colour in many places,'' says Loknath Das, another member of the campaign to save the river. The industries there should take it upon themselves environmental and social responsibilities without waiting for regulation. They should also harvest rainwater, which will save the rivers and reduce water costs for them. Besides, waste water should be recycled, reused and made to recharge the ground water, says Mohanty. When contacted, Subrat Das, Executive Engineer of Water Resouces of Jaraka Irrigation division in Jajpur district said the problem arose from the fact that the water of rainfed Brahmani river enters its branch Kharasrota, which has a lower bed. Moreover, there is massive siltation and huge sand deposits at its catchments area at Jenapur and Bedipur, which needs to be cleared. A survey of Brahmani river is being conducted on a priority basis as per the direction of the Water Resources department, he said.

Another "Project' in Conflict

2010-10-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

680 families to be displaced for Brutang irrigation project in Orissa
Published: Saturday, Oct 9, 2010, 16:15 IST
Place: Bhubaneswar | Agency: PTI
As many as 680 families would be displaced for setting up an irrigation project in Orissa's Nayagarh district, the stage-I environment clearance for which had been accorded by the Centre, official sources said.

Issuing direction to officials to ensure that the displaced families were properly rehabilitated, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that about 23,300 hectares of agricultural land was estimated to get irrigation facilities by the irrigation project over Brutang river.

Patnaik reviewed the irrigation project last evening, barely hours after residents of about 21 villagers unitedly opposed to it. "We will not allow our houses to be inundated for the project," said Jasoda Behara, one of the giators.

While the state government was all set to implement the project by appointing a special officer to coordinate early clerance of the stage-II environment clearance, the local residents under the banner of Basachyuta Sangram Samiti vowed not to vacate their house and land to be submerged.

About 2110 hectare of land was likely to be inundated due to the proposed project to be set up over river Brutang in Nayagarh district.

Stating that 7.42 lakh people living in 309 villages in five blocks area of Nayagarh district would get benefit due to the project, Kandhamal MP Rudra Ray said he was talking to the agitating people to pave way for setting up the irrigation project.

Ray during the BJD's 10-day long 'padayatra', visited several villages to be displaced due to the project and tried to convince the people. "We are sorry that a large number of people will be displaced. But the project is very important as it will irrigate about 25,000 hectares of agricultral land," the MP said.

Industry Agriculture Water Conflict

2010-10-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

Indian Farmers Fight Billionaire Mittal, Posco for Water Rights
By Abhishek Shanker - Oct 4, 2010 8:31 PM GMT+0530

ArcelorMittal and Posco are leading $80 billion in planned spending in India that would vault the country ahead of Japan as the second-biggest steelmaker. Standing in the way are farmers and their water supply.

The farmers refuse to move from irrigated land in three states that hold more than half of India’s reserves of iron ore, a key material to make steel. That’s stymied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ambitions to more than triple India’s steel capacity to 232 million metric tons.

“We’re not going to allow the government to take the land and water and give them to Posco,” said Prasanth Paikare, a spokesman for opposition group Posco Prathirodh Sangram Samiti that says it represents 25,000 farmers. “The government has promised us land at a new location but there is no good land available in the state now and there won’t be enough water for agriculture,” he said in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa state.

The farmers’ concern about water for crops has delayed plans by ArcelorMittal, Posco and at least five rivals to benefit from a steel market that has expanded more than 55 percent since 2005 as Indian imports of the metal tripled in the same period. Posco’s proposal to build a $12 billion steel plant in Orissa has stalled for five years as the South Korean company failed to persuade farmers to move.

“Repeated delays have left investors concerned about whether Posco can make it,” said Im Jeong Jae, who helps manage $26.3 billion of assets, including shares of the world’s third-biggest steelmaker, at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co. “India is very important because it has the best growth potential after China for steel demand and Posco can also source iron ore and raw materials there.”

Lagging Behind

The latest hurdle is an environment ministry report due this month on the impact of the Posco project. Chief Executive Officer Chung Joon Yang has since announced investment plans in Indonesia and Vietnam, as it lagged behind Chinese steelmaker Baosteel Group Corp.

The 160 million tons of steel capacity planned in India would consume 640 billion gallons of water a year, based on average consumption of U.S. steel mills in a U.S. Department of Energy paper. That’s enough to provide enough water for drinking and cooking for 133 million people in India for a year, according to figures from the government.

That level of water consumption would yield 1 million tons of rice a year, which at today’s price of $299 a ton would fetch 0.3 percent of the value of the steel produced and be enough to feed 9 million people in India for a year, based on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization consumption estimates.

Land and Water

“Posco wants our land, it wants our water,” said Makar Kandi, 75, who sustains a family of eight from a one-acre plot on which he grows betel leaves in Orissa’s Dhinkia village. “Agriculture is our only means. We’ll have no livelihood.”

India increased annual steel output by 34 million tons since 2005, compared with 219 million tons by China, the biggest-producing nation.

A ton of hot-rolled coil, a benchmark steel product, sells for about $685, compared with $299 a ton for a common variety of rice in India.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, faces delays for a $10 billion mill in Orissa and in Jharkhand state. Projects by Tata Steel Ltd., India’s biggest maker of the metal, are faring no better in the two states and in Chhattisgarh.

Iron Ore Attraction

According to an agreement with Jharkhand, Luxembourg- based ArcelorMittal would have access to 20 million tons of iron ore annually for 30 years. That’s enough to raise its self- sufficiency in the raw material by 33 percent. Iron ore prices have gained in two out of three quarters this year.

“Securing iron ore assets has become very important for the steel companies as prices both in the contractual as well as spot markets have been very volatile,” Elora Sahoo, an analyst at Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd., said in Mumbai. “Having their own iron ore assets will help companies hedge against market price movements and control the cost of production.”

ArcelorMittal is now seeking to secure land at a new location in Jharkhand, said spokeswoman Mandakini Sud. There has been “good” progress in convincing locals, mostly people engaged in non-agricultural activities, to give up land, she said.

“With over 60 percent of India’s population dependent on the monsoons for livelihood, there’s population concentration and serious competition in areas with water,” Rahul Jain, an analyst at RBS Equities India Ltd. said in Mumbai.

Less Rainfall

What’s making the case worse for Posco is the declining rainfall in the Jagatsinghpur district where it’s planning its mill. Rain during the June-September monsoon period, needed for agriculture, has fallen 26 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to data from the country’s weather department.

That forced farmers to compete with manufacturers including Vedanta Resources Plc and Hindalco Industries Ltd. for water from the Mahanadi river. Posco plans to secure water through pipes from the Jobra dam on the river.

“Opposition to the project is unfounded,” Posco India Ltd. General Manager Simanta Mohanty said. “We will not use local water. There’s enough water available from Jobra.”

The steelmakers in June begun exploring sites in the southern state of Karnataka, which has the country’s second- biggest iron ore deposit. The catch? Lack of water.

“The state has decided to acquire dry and barren land, which gives little or no returns to the farmers,” said V.P. Baligar, industry secretary of Karnataka state. “On such land, water is an issue and we are trying to address it.”

Polavaram

2010-10-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

SC issues notice to Centre on Orissa’s plea against Polavaram dam
04.10.2010 | 15:56
New Delhi
Upmanyu Trivedi

Issuing notices Supreme Court of India today directed the Centre to respond to state of Orissa's plea against environment clearance to Polavaram dam. The dam is being built in Andhra Pradesh over river Godavari and will also submerge areas in Orissa.

Supreme court bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma passed the orders giving four weeks time to any other state interested in impleading in the petition.
Orissa had a filed petition in the Supreme Court opposing the Centre’s decision to give an environmental clearance for the Rs. 10,000 crores project being built on Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh.

Orissa has filed the petition before the Supreme Court, demanding cancellation of environmental clearance given to the project by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). Orissa has questioned as to how the clearance was given to the project when the case is pending in Supreme Court.

Advocates Suresh Chandra Tripathi and RS Jena appeared for the state of Orissa.

Hansua Conflict

2010-10-03T01:17:00.000-07:00

Hansua water for Posco project opposed

Correspondent

Speakers at a seminar criticise the government's proposal

The programme was organised by Odisha Jala Surakhya Janamanch

Farmers in large numbers attended the seminar

CUTTACK: Speakers at a State-level seminar here on Friday opposed the proposal of Orissa government to supply water from the Hansua River in Jagatsinghpur district to the proposed Posco steel plant at Paradeep. Organised by the Odisha Jala Surakhya Janamanch, the seminar was attended among others by hundreds of farmers from areas like Biridi, Raghunathpu, Tirtol, Erasama and Balikuda of the district.

Janamanch convener Chittaranjan Mohanty said that the Hansua was not a natural river. “It's not even a tributary of the Mahanadi system and not even a rivulet having independent source of water,” he said. “Rather the Hansua is a drainage channel of the Taladanda canal through which seepage water from the canal and rain waters flow during floods to avert water-logging in vast stretches of agricultural land in the locality,” Mr. Mohanty said adding that the government's proposal to draw water from this channel for the South Korean steel major is nothing but indirectly drawing water from the Taladanda canal.

The 90-km Taladanda canal from Cuttack to Paradeep was exclusively meant for irrigation purpose. Even when the tail-end areas of the canal face acute shortage of water for irrigation, how can the government think of drawing water from the middle of the canal for industrial purpose, the speakers pointed out in unison. Any proposal to draw water from the Hansua channel would also result in water stagnation and would have serious consequences on agricultural patterns of local people stretching from Kandarpur to Nalibar areas where besides paddy and vegetables, other cash crops like groundnut and mustard were grown in large tracts, the farmers said.

Presided over by Janamanch president Akshaya Das, the seminar was addressed among others by former Union minister Brajakishore Tripathy, Janamanch secretary general Biswabasu Das, CPI (M) leader Subash Singh, environmentalist Prafulla Samantra, engineer Lalit Patnaik and former MLA Bijay Naik.

Posco and Hansua

2010-09-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

POSCO war zone - Farmers oppose plan to supply Hansua River water
The proposal of the Orissa government to supply surplus water from Hansua River to POSCO India's proposed mega steel plant at Paradip has drawn flak from the farmers who have decided to protest this move of the government.

The activists of Nab Nirman Krushak Sangthan conducted a meeting at Redhua near Paradip while hundreds of farmers joined rallies to protest the move of the state government to supply water for the POSCO project.

The farmer’s leaders like Akshaya Kumar, Soren Rout, Rashmiranjan Swain and others delivered speeches on the occasion. They stated that Hansua is not a river but a drainage channel whose catchment’s area from Kandarpur to Erasama is 278 square miles.

Local farmers have alleged that majority of farmers of Birdi, Raghunathpur, Jagatsinghpur, Tirtol, Erasama and Balikuda have been cultivating their vegetable crops, sunflower, groundnuts, mustard, paddy and other crops by availing water from different bases of the Hansua channel.

Farmers also use the water from this channel for the transplantation of paddy crops during the Kharif season in the event of scanty rainfall and delay in supply of irrigated water through canal.

The farmers have been using lift irrigation points to pump out water from this channel to supply water for agricultural purposes. The farmers' leaders stated that nearly 35,000 ha of paddy crops of Jagatsinghpur district are getting waterlogged during the rainy season due to non release of rain water as river creeks and the Jatadhari river mouth have been choked.

Steps will be taken to renovate river creeks and to dredge Hansua channel and Jatadhari River mouth to release water so water logging would be averted properly, said Assistant engineer of Erasama Kisoher Chandra Patra.

They added that the supply of water to POSCO through a barrage will result in water stagnation and will have serious consequences on livelihood patterns of people besides damaging the road communication infrastructure.

Out of 17,806 hectares, 5003 hectares are irrigated land in Erasama area and the rest lands are non-irrigated. Hundreds of farmers use the water of this river during rabi and kharif seasons through lift irrigation points.

After supply of water to POSCO, the base of this river will be dried and farmers will be deprived of pumping out water from Hansua to irrigate non irrigated lands.

Zilla parishad member cum President of Ersama Ba Simiti, Sarada Jena “For the sake of one company (Posco), thousands of people cannot suffer and their livelihood patterns must not be disturbed. We apprehend the people of the particular areas would not tolerate this and there might be agitations and mass movements in the district of Jagatsinghpur.”

Posco Water

2010-09-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Locals oppose plan to draw water from Haunsua river for Posco
Published: Sunday, Sep 26, 2010, 13:34 IST
Place: Bhubaneswar | Agency: PTI

With the Orissa government mulling supply of water to Posco's proposed mega steel mill near Paradip from an alternative place, local people and some outfits demanded a fresh public hearing.

Faced with stiff opposition from farmers and different political parties, the state government had asked Posco to consider a proposal of drawing water from Hansua river instead of getting it from Jobra barrage near Cuttack.

Farmers under the banner of Nab Nirman Krushak Sangathan also held a meeting near Paradip to unitedly oppose the state government's move to allow Posco to draw water from Hansua river.

Though Hansua was basically a drainage channel whose catchment area was spread over 278 square miles in both Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts.

"Majority of farmers in Jagatsinghpur district meet their water requirement from Hansua. Farmers often use pump sets to lift water from Hansua," Zilla Parishad president Sarada Jena said.

Water resources secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, however, said the state government had asked Posco to consider a proposal of lifting water from Hansua river after building a barrage on it.

"Posco will be allowed to preserve water of Hansua river and use it," he said.

While Posco was yet to respond to the state government's proposal, the South Korean company had earlier rejected idea of drawing water from certain rivers in Jagatsinghpur on the plea that most of the water sources in the district was saline.

"We urge upon the government to conduct a fresh Environment Impact Assessment study for the projects impacts on the ecology," Water Initiative of Orissa (WIO) said.

"In the MoU signed between the company and the state government, water is a separate sub-project and hence any change in the water use would need a fresh EIA and environmental clearance after due public hearing at both places from where the government plans to give water to POSCO," WIO's convenor Ranjan Panda said.

Shifting attention: POSCO going for Hansua leaving the Mahanadi

2010-09-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

Our Mr Secretary, WRD (plz read the following news) is also falling trap to the same 'river water going to sea is a waste' beief, that our Ministers have earlier fallen to. Kudos to their advisors, married to this 'engineering paradigm'! They have been successful in perpetuating and implanting this dangerously wrong beief in the minds of decision makers. This shows the urgent need of carrying out damage control awareness and sensitization campaign among our beuraucrats and politcians on the understanding of our rivers in entirety and the implications of environmental flow.

At the same time, it is also difficult to understand, how a barrage downstream will solve the problems of waterlogging in Hansua, as the Secretary has put it. Civil society must also seek to know the basis of calculation which claims 'excess' water in Hansua.
Mahanadi Banchao Andolan, being a movement to safeguard the interests of communities and river, in stead of welcoming this move, must ask for a detailed assessment of impact of this barrage on lives and livelihoods the communities and farmers in Hansua sub-basin.

Orissa Govt asks Posco to consider alternative water source
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Jagatsinghpur: After the Meena Gupta Committee visit the Proposed Posco site and held discussions with officials on water linkage to the steel mill, the state government is now evaluating alternative source of water for Posco.

The state government which confronted widespread protest from Mahanadi Banchao Andolan committee is now contemplating alternate water source to Posco and has initiated a survey in this regard.

In 2006, the water resources department had granted permission to Posco to draw water from Jobra barrage. With MoEF inquiring the ecological impact on the river and its surroundings, the government is now planning to ask Posco to draw water from Hansua river in Jagatsinghpur which is 7 km away from the proposed site.The government would ask Posco to build a barrage on Hansua river to hold water for its industrial use. The river which flows through four blocks of the district culminates at Jatadhari basin near the captive port site.

The farmers in the area have expressed concerns over drawing of water for the project as they depend on the river water for irrigation purposes.

The Secretary of Water Resources Department Suresh Mohapatra said that the excess water of Hansua river would be properly utilised instead being discharged to the sea, it could also help local farmers by avoiding a regular water logging over 10,000 to 15,000 hectare of agricultural field in Jagatsinghpur district.

The leaders of Mahanadi Banchao Andolan committee has welcomed the decision of state government to provide alternate source of water to Posco rather than providing water from river Mahanadi.

2010-09-24T03:24:00.000-07:00

BIS Certification Mandatory for Packaged Drinking Water

No person is authorised to manufacture, sell or exhibit for sale, packaged drinking water and packaged mineral water except under Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark.

As per the Quality Control Order issued under Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Rules, 1955, Bureau of Indian Standards has formulated the following Indian Standards which provide quality norms for packaged water:

i) IS 14543:2004 Packaged drinking water (other than natural mineral water) (First Revision)
ii) IS 13428: 2005 Packaged natural mineral water (Second Revision)

There are 18 BIS licensees engaged in production of Packaged Natural Mineral Water, 2354 licensees producing Packaged Drinking Water through Reverse Osmosis, and 633 licensees bottling Packaged Drinking Water drawing water from natural resources.

Implementation of the PFA Act and Rules framed under the Act is the responsibility of State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. BIS also undertakes periodic surveillance inspection and testing of samples from the market for maintaining the quality of the products of its licensees as per the prescribed Indian Standards.

MP:SB:CP: mineral water (23.9.2010)

Polavaram Politics

2010-09-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

Orissa BJP seeks details of threat from Andhra dam
2010-09-21 15:20:00

Bhubaneswar, Sep 21 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists Tuesday staged a rally in Orissa demanding details of possible damage due to the Polavaram dam project on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh, recently approved by the central government.

Carrying posters and banners, activists of the party's youth unit marched in Bhubaneswar from their office near Ram Mandir square to Raj Bhavan, the official residence of Governor M.C. Bhandare, police said.

They shouted slogans against the state government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the central government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a police official said.

'Arjun Sethi, a leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was the union minister in charge of central water resources from 2000-04 and he should have scrapped the project at that time. Now the same BJD is opposing the project but only after the centre scrapped the mining project of Vedanta,' a protest leader said.

'Both the state and central governments have not done any assessment about the possible damage the project will cause in Orissa,' former state BJP president Suresh Pujari said.

'The state and central governments should come out with a white paper on the project detailing the possible damage,' he said.

'If the government continues with the project, we will take this agitation to other parts of the state,' he said.

According to the Andhra Pradesh government, the Rs.10,150-crore Polavaram irrigation project will provide drinking water to 2.85 million people, produce 960 MW of power and give industry 23,500 million cubic feet of water.

The union environment and forests ministry gave the final clearance in July for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land for the project on the condition that no submergence of forest land should take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

The project, first envisioned by the British rulers in 1941 has, however, been facing opposition for decades from local residents who fear displacement, a concern shared by residents in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

2010-09-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

Salinity rise in water driving crocs to stray from habitats
PTI, Sep 21, 2010, 10.57am IST

KENDRAPARA (Orissa): Rising salinity in the waters of the Bhitarkanika river system is driving crocodiles towards other water bodies close to human habitation.

The recent killing of a woman by a crocodile at a village bordering Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary has brought into sharp focus the increasing forays by the reptiles into rivers and water bodies in thickly populated areas.

The straying of crocodiles away from their habitats was earlier attributed to scarcity of food in the sanctuary, especially during monsoon months, but now wildlife experts have said extreme salinity in the Bhitarkanika river was the reason.

"The reptiles were never earlier sighted at villages surrounding the Bhitarkanika sanctuary," Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest division, said.

The Bhitarkanika river system, home to about 2,000 estuarine crocodiles, is now undergoing a hyper-salinity process not conducive to their habitation, Mohapatra said.

He said the crocodile attacks on humans mostly take place during new moon and full moon periods when their habitation corridors get hyper saline.

Brutang

2010-09-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

No rethink on green nod to Orissa irrigation project: Ramesh
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, September 15, 2010

Even as Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has maintained that there is no rethink over the green nod to Brutanga irrigation project proposed in Orissa, sources said it is under the scanner of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). "Wildlife in Satkosia tiger sanctuary would be under
threat due to the proposed project. NTCA member secretary Rajesh Gopal would soon visit the sanctuary to study the impact it would have on the wildlife particularly movement of elephants and tigers," sources in the ministry said.

When asked, though Ramesh said that the project has received first phase clearance at the Forest Appraisal Committee last month, he, however, admitted that there are some minor issues to be sorted out.

"But, I categorically say that there is no rethinking over the project which would help lakhs of farmers and villagers in the state," he said.

The project is aimed at providing irrigation in 50,000 hectares of cultivable land in Nayagarh district.

Ramesh said the order granting forest clearance includes a large number of conditions intended to safeguard the wildlife, such as building overpasses to allow elephants to cross the canal.

However, local NGOs and wildlife activists have been up in arms against the nod to the project, saying it would affect movement of elephants across river Brutanga, on which a reservoir will be build submerging 1,500 hectares of land.

The FAC had met again last week expressing reservation over its impact on the wildlife as well as a huge chunk of tribal population, which would be displaced due to the project.

Sources say that further action in the proposed project would depend on the view taken by Gopal, head of the NTCA, which oversees Project Tiger in the country.

Polavaram

2010-09-12T10:53:00.001-07:00

Polavaram issue at bAiThak kHanA
Posted by: "sudarsan das" in E-group Agamiorissa
Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:14 pm (PDT)

Dear All
As planned, the bAiThaK kHanA of Agami Odisha organised the consultation on Polavaram on 11th September at Ekamra Hatt.

Consultation had about thirty five participants comprising NGOs, media, activists, and elected representatives. Shri Sudarsan Das explained the weekly dialogue series that Agami Odisha has been organising on varied issues of concern to the state to examine the alternatives and and chalk out ways and mean of building public opinion in favour policies and programmes in the interest of the state. Polavaram issue has been taken up for this week, he explained as the problem is becoming serious with growing pressures to accord national status to the dam.

He introduced guest speaker Shri M Bharath Bhushan of Aranyika, a inter-state network of NGOs on environment and tribal development, and his work related to Polavaram dam as an activist with field studies on the impact of the dam way back in 1992 and his contribution to Aranyika's publication titled “Myth and Reality of
Polavaram Dam' highlighting the truth of the benefits and underestimated losses, as well his documentaries films on the Koyas tribe and Polavaram dam.

Bharath Bhushan explained that the Polavaram dam has evoked public wrath from the
beginning, especially from late Eighties when various sanghatans in the state of Andhra Pradesh and environment groups in the country have also questioned the rationale. There was a regional meet of the Koya tribal village heads of the three states in March 1995 that made fervent appeal to the chief ministers of the three states to withdraw Polavaram dam. Resistance to Polavaram dam, he said, is not new. The Polavaram Dam is national disaster as the promised benefits are only on paper and highly exaggerated, while the losses which are irreversible due to ecological destruction and displacement of people in large scale are many times higher than what is being told to the clearance authorities. The benefits are shaky, for instance, the irrigation benefits are claimed to be initially 7.21 lakh acres as
per the Environment Impact Assessment and Environment Management Plan (EIA & EMP) prepared by Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd in September 2005 that was submitted to the authorities for obtaining clearance, Now there are claims of 23.21 lakh acres how that is possible and if the revised irrigation benefits are true how approval given to different design is valid, he asked. While the truth is that
Polavaram dam would be irrigate additionally only 42,000 acres as after deducting the extent of land that is lost forever under submergence and canals and 5.47 lakh acres which is already under irrigation or in progress under Tatipudi, Pushakara and several other irrigation projects. Similarly the Central Electricity Authority has
declared that power generation claims of 960 MW is unrealistic as there is feasibility for only 460 MW. Other serious issues of concern are the displacement of around 3 lakh population. Displacement and ecological implications are not confined to state borders as the Dantewada disturbance has resulted in about 30,000 people moving to AP according to the National Commission for Protection for Child
Rights in November 2007. Whether there is submergence or embankment in Orissa and Chattisgarh the large scale displacement of adivasis in AP and the uphill migration of the adivasis would be national disaster.

Prof K B Das of Utkal University remarked that all mega projects are only adding to the loot of resources for the private gains and the proposed benefits of the projects are not real or only short term. He cited examples of the Hirakud, Indravati dams and added that the displaced people are yet to be rehabilitated in many cases. He wondered how the Polavaram dam would be different when it is of much larger scale and being designed without public consent. Other participants who spoke on the occasion include Mr Braja Kishore Tripathy, former Union Minister, Mr
Lalit Mohan Patnaik, Mr Akshya Das, Mr Tushar Kanta, Mr Deba Parija, Priyadarshi Mishra, Mr Dayanidhi Sahu etc.

Participants remarked that presentations by the speakers and the discussion has brought to light several dimensions of the dam and the rapid modifications in the scope and design that are not widely known to the people in any state. The whole issue is treated as a matter of concern to technical experts and those in power to be act indiscriminately while the adverse implications of the ill designed project are to be faced by the adivasis and the people. Secrecy and myths of the technical
things are only coming into light in bits and pieces when one committee after the other finds lacunae in some component or the other. The participants opined that the project should be stalled immediately to have a national debate on the project in its totality and public debate is needed whether the dam serves any purpose at
all, whether its social ecological costs are worth the project, whether the corrective measures in the form of R&R and Environment Management Plan are sound etc

Issues that emerged for reflection include the following:

Polavaram issue is a national tragedy with significant direct implications to the state and the response from Odisha has to be above party affiliations

There is urgent need to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the social, ecological, and related problems due to the Polavaram dam

Public awareness and mobilisation has to be strengthened to inform the affected people and the varied sections in the state about the true picture of the
Polavaram dam

A state level convention has to be organised at the earliest to build public
awareness on the issue. The convention should invite speakers comprising experts and activists from three states and other parts of the country

--------------------------------------------

Sudarsan Das

Managing Trustee & Secretary

Human Development Foundation (HDF)

M-4, Samant Vihar, Mancheswar Rly. Colony

Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar.

Email: sudarsan_d@yahoo.com

2010-09-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Surviving on contaminated water, Orissa villagers hit by cholera
2010-09-11 18:50:00

Villagers in Orissa's Rayagada district have come under the grip of cholera, as their region lacks a safe and hygienic source of drinking water.

These villagers are very poor and helpless. They are compelled to take drinking water from river and ponds for their daily life.

As the water is contaminated, the water-borne disease is spreading rapidly in the district and has affected many people.

"We don't have any source of safe drinking water. We don't have any bore-well water, hence we have to depend on dirty rivers and pond water, and due to this unhygienic water we are falling ill," said Paranga Majhi, a local.

Meanwhile, State Health Department claims to have already started undertaking measures to counter the cholera outbreak.

"Government is taking all steps possible and a team of doctors has been dispersed. Paramedical team has also been dispersed from outside the district. Senior health officers of the health department have also been deployed there and are making all sets of arrangements to see that all patients areas (have) been given proper treatment and timely treatment," said Prasanna Acharaya, the State Health Minister.

Areas like Bissam Cuttak, Kasipur, Kalyasinghpur, Gudari, Jaganathpura and Jameidipur in the Rayagad district have been hit by Cholera.

Till now Cholera has taken lives of almost 87 people in Orissa. By Sarada Lahangir (ANI)

2010-09-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

Centre rethinking clearance granted to Orissa's Brutanga irrigation project?
Priscilla Jebaraj
The Union government is reportedly having second thoughts about the forest clearance granted to the Brutanga irrigation project in Nayagarh district of Orissa, largely due to concerns over the submergence of a key elephant corridor.

The project was discussed again by the Forest Advisory Committee on Friday, according to sources at the meeting. They suggested that protests against the submergence of the elephant corridor and the possible adverse impact on local wildlife and tribal communities were discussed.

Interestingly, the original clearance for the project was announced on the same day of the release of the Project Elephant task force report, which had emphasised the importance of safeguarding elephant corridors. That was also the day Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh rejected the forest clearance for Vedanta Aluminium's controversial Niyamgiri mine.

Centre not biased

In fact, the Brutanga project, which the Environment Ministry considered and approved over a span of just six months, has been Mr. Ramesh's poster boy case to prove that the Centre is not biased against Orissa. In the wake of decisions against the Vedanta and Posco, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had complained that the Ministry was prejudiced against his non-Congress government.

In response, Mr. Ramesh has been emphasising that while his Ministry cleared the Brutanga project in a jiffy, the State government took 10 years to apply for a clearance, implying that it did not care about its own farmers, but only about large corporate projects.

Now it appears that the Ministry may be rethinking the project it cleared at such speed.

“The Brutanga project will destroy the route regularly used by elephants,” says Shivaji Naik, an activist with the Wild Orissa NGO, which has been campaigning against the project.

The Ministry's order granting forest clearance included a large number of conditions intended to safeguard the wildlife, such as building overpasses to allow elephants to cross the canal.

However, Mr. Naik cites wildlife experts who say that the construction of artificial barriers has not proved to be a feasible solution for elephant movement in the country.

The NGO says the proposed submergence area falls adjacent to the Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary. A study team found that both the submergence area and the canal that will connect the Brutanga and Kuanria Reservoirs are being regularly used by elephants during their transit across the Mahanadi each summer.

“If the elephants' pathway is blocked, they would not be able to mix and breed with populations on both sides of the river, affecting genetic balance. The corridor is also used by tigers, sambar and many birds, says the Wild Orissa.

Water scarcity

Mr. Naik also warns that since Brutanga is not a perennial river, the project would cause water scarcity in the Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary and in the tribal villages dotting the forests of the region. With elephants confused by the blocking of their traditional route, there would be a danger of more man-animal conflicts, he says.

2010-09-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Vansadhara tribunal to start hearing form Nov 23
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Report by Jyoti Prakash; Bhubaneswar: Vansadhara water distribution tribunal will start its hearing from next November 23. Before that the tribunal today ordered both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to submit their respective views within 6 weeks. On the other hand, status quo will be maintained on construction of Katraguda barrage on the river Vansadhara till further orders.

The tribunal headed by Justice B.N Agrawal today called a meeting of both the states who are fighting over the water sharing of Vansadhara to present their views in New Delhi. Orissa water resources Secretary Suresh Mohapatra represented the state where as Andhra was represented by its Water Resources minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and the irrigation engineers.

The dispute between Orissa and AP began in the early 90s when the latter attempted to construct the Neredi barrage on Vansadhara river, 16 km from Gunpur town in Orissa’s Rayagada district. Objections raised by Orissa prevented the then AP government from going ahead with the construction. However, AP went ahead and built the Gotta barrage across the river.

Vansadhara, one of the six major rivers of Orissa, originates from the Durgakangar hills (Lingaraj hills) of the Eastern Ghats in Kalahandi district. The 230 km-Long River runs through Orissa (150 km) and Andhra Pradesh before merging into the Bay of Bengal at Kalingapatnam in Andhra. Its catchments area is spread over 1,400 sq km in Orissa and 300 sq km in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra has even constructed second phase of Gotta barrage despite Orissa’s protest. Now, the problem is with the construction of Katraguda barrage on Vansadhara.

Artists protest Polavaram

2010-09-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Students stage street play against Orissa dam project
Bhubaneswar, Sep.8 (ANI): Students of a college here, staged a street play to protest the rupees 100 billion-Polavaram Indira Sagar dam project on River Godavari.

They claimed that a huge number of villages would be submerged in water if the dam is built in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

"We protest Polavaram today because, due to the Polavaram (project), Orissa is facing a lot of problems. So, we artists want to tell that the Polavaram project should not happen. The problem that will be caused to the tribal people due to this project, who will be responsible for that? We should ask this question to the central government and to the Andhra Pradesh government as well. This project should be shut down. We are protesting it," Bijay Kumar, a performer said on Tuesday.

Locals urged the centre and the state governments to shut down the project.

"We are staging this play to make the people of Orissa aware that they should also protest this project. We the people and our government should jointly urge the central government to stop this," said Arun Palore, another performer.

At least 25 tribal villages and a large chunk of the forest area would be inundated, they said. By Sarda Lahangir (ANI)

Polavaram

2010-09-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Godavari: The New Narmada?
Will Polavaram be another ecocide zone? Not if we apply the Vedanta logic to it.

Godavari Flow Chart

* 80 TMC of water diverted to river Krishna. Water supply to Visakhapatnam. Drinking water to 540 villages.
* Will irrigate 2.91 lakh hectares. Power generation: 960 MW
* Full reservoir Level: 151 feet, total cost: about Rs 17,800 crore
* Clearance from MoEF in July 2010
* Environmentalists and rights activists say the dam could inundate parts of AP, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, swamp 280 villages. It will displace two lakh people, mostly tribals.

***

The Polavaram dam across the river Godavari has been a dream project for several governments in Andhra Pradesh. Most of them had to let it stay at that—a dream. An ambitious project which envisages harnessing the river’s surplus water that otherwise flows into the sea (80 thousand million cubic feet is also diverted annually to the Krishna river), the Polavaram dam has been in the conceptual stage since 1943. It was only when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy took charge and accorded irrigation topmost priority that the dam’s construction was taken up as part of the Jalayagnam programme.

Christened the Indira Sagar Polavaram project, the 151-ft-high dam will have a gross storage capacity of 194.6 TMC and a power generation capacity of 960 MW. However, the dam has remained controversial from the word go. One of the major issues is the massive submergence of forest and cultivated land it will entail in Khammam, the west and east Godavari districts, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Up to 40,138 hectares will be affected, uprooting a population of two lakh, many of them primitive tribal groups and adivasis. In all, 280 villages would be hit. Besides, reserve forests and a part of the Papikonda wildlife sanctuary would cease to exist. However, regardless of all this, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MOEF) cleared the proposal for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land for the Indira Sagar project in July 2010. While the AP government celebrates it as an achievement, tribal activists and environmentalists see red.

Madhusudhan N., who runs ngo Yakshi and works for tribal rights, says the logic which the Saxena committee report used to nullify Vedanta’s project in Orissa should apply here as well. “The MOEF’s clearance is based on the assurance by the AP government that there are no forest rights to be settled under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Right) Act, 2006, in the project area. The fact is that several tribals like Koyas and Konda Reddies have been living here for long. Their cultural ecosystems, their territorial rights to forest resources need to be recognised. In other words, they cannot be evicted. The AP government has obviously misled the Centre on these facts.”

S. Jeevan Kumar, president, Human Rights Forum, calls the dam a hugely destructive project. “Tribals and Dalits,” he says, “will account for 65 per cent of the displaced. The natural resources, cultural systems, traditional knowledge of these people are closely tied to the land they inhabit. With no forest, the existence of these communities will become untenable. Another condition for the MOEF’s clearance is that the consent of gram sabhas (village councils) has to be obtained. Not a single gram sabha has given its consent so far. The Centre cannot apply the Forest Rights Act, 2006, selectively only in Orissa and ignore it in AP.” Both the Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments have gone to the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the dam.

Hind Site Work on the main canal

Irrigation and environment expert Prof T. Shivaji Rao says the dam is being built by blindly ignoring aspects like climate change and global warming. “Over the years, the intensity and duration of storms in the Godavari are going to increase by 20-30 per cent. The AP government cannot alter nature.” He points out that the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, had in 1999 said the maximum flood inflow in the Godavari could be 60 lakh cusecs. The Central Water Commission (CWC) was only slightly more conservative: it put the figure at 50 lakh cusecs in September 2006. “Even if one were to take CWC’s figure, the Polavaram dam would be a ticking time-bomb during floods,” says Shivaji Rao.

Union Nations consultant for Asian irrigation projects, T. Hanumantha Rao, while factoring in these climate change facts, had suggested an alternative to the Polavaram dam in the form of three barrages at Polavaram, between Bhadrachalam and Konavaram and across the Sabari river close to the Orissa border. The AP government ruled out his proposals. “They were technically unviable,” says irrigation minister Ponnala Laxmaiah. Hanumantha Rao says that he has never been against the Polavaram project but these barrages might just present a solution and work out cheaper than the current cost of Rs 17,728.20 crore and will generate more power (1,038 MW).

Both Shivaji Rao and Hanumantha Rao point out that earthen dams are prone to breaches. Since the soil foundation at Polavaram is of clay and sand, a concrete dam is unviable. Other major rivers in the world which have lesser peak flood discharges than Godavari, such as the Yangtze in China, the Mississippi in the US or the Volga in Russia, do not have earthen dams at locations where such high flood flow conditions occur. The Indira Sagar project is located almost at the end of the river where the peak discharge occurs.

Shivaji Rao points out: “In October 2009, the Krishna river saw unprecedented floods, more than 2.7 times the normal flow, and Kurnool was submerged for days together. And there is no dam out there. If such a situation occurs in the Godavari and the Polavaram dam is built, then a breach is almost certain. The maximum flood inflow would be 90 lakh cusecs. Imagine a tsunami of 200 TMC of dam water breaking across the Godavari delta. Overnight, 45 lakh people would have a watery grave.”

Irrigation officials in the government dismiss these theories as alarmist and say that the benefits of the Polavaram dam are too many to be ignored. Irrigation minister Laxmaiah says that the objections by Orissa and Chhattisgarh have no relevance since they are signatories to the 1976 Bachawat Award on the Krishna waters. “We have obtained all the clearances and are offering a compensation package of more than Rs 600 crore for the two states. We are offering the best rehabilitation and relief packages in the country,” says Laxmaiah. “In fact, we invited Medha Patkar about four years back to assess the R&R package and she found it to be good. The government has also taken the suggestions of the World Water Forum.” Do the people have a say, that is the moot question.

Polavaram Politics

2010-09-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

Final approval for Polavaram project erroneous: Orissa

J. Venkatesan

Deliberate act to render suit infructuous

NEW DELHI: The Orissa government moved the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking a stay on the final approval granted by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry for the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) Project in Andhra Pradesh, and a direction for status quo.

On Wednesday, the Centre, in response to Orissa's suit, justified the grant of clearance for execution of the project. It said protection against submergence had been provided and allayed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's apprehensions.

Conditions same

In its fresh application, Orissa argued that the conditions stipulated in the approval letter were similar to the one issued in 2009 for grant of in-principle approval. When the 2009 approval was still pending in court, the grant of the final approval on the same conditions would amount to overreaching the Supreme Court's orders and interference in its proceedings.

Assailing the Centre for granting approval without informing Orissa, the application pointed out that the project on an inter-State river was fraught with the serious consequences of submergence of, and an adverse environmental impact on, the territories of Orissa. Mr. Patnaik had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Ministry seeking withdrawal of the clearance granted on July 28. In its reply, the Ministry said clearance was granted after “due care of the issues raised” was taken.

Wrong assumption

Drawing a distinction between the original and revised proposals, the application said Orissa entered into the 1980 agreement with Andhra Pradesh based on the maximum backwater level of 174.22 feet for a maximum discharge of 36 lakh cusecs, as put forth by Andhra Pradesh.

However, as per the Andhra Pradesh government's application to the Environment Ministry, the backwater would go up to 182 feet for a discharge of 36 lakh cusecs. Therefore, the most fundamental assumption of fact on which the agreement had been entered into turned out to be wrong.

Furthermore, Andhra Pradesh should have executed the Inchampalli joint project first, so that the design flood at Polavaram could have been drastically reduced to 36 lakh cusecs or lower.

The Inchampalli project was not executed though the agreement had been made in 1975.

In the absence of the revised reservoir operation schedule, due to the change in the design flood, in consultation with the co-basin States of Chhattisgarh and Orissa, the permission and approval granted by the Union Ministry was erroneous and liable to be quashed. The grant of approval was a deliberate act to render the suit infructuous, the application said.

Polavaram Politics

2010-09-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

Orissa moves SC over Polavaram
BS Reporter / Bhubaneswar September 06, 2010, 0:49 IST

Continuing its protest over the Rs 10,000-crore Polavaram power project on the Godavari river in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the Orissa government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court opposing the Centre’s decision to give an environmental nod for the controversial project.

“In our petition in the Supreme Court, we have demanded the cancellation of the environmental clearance given to the project by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to the Polavaram project. The state government has argued as to how the ministry could give the clearance when a case related to the project is already pending in the apex court,” Suresh Mohapatra, secretary (water resources), told Business Standard. According to state government estimates, the project was likely to submerge 2119.38 hectares of land in the Naxalite-affected tribal areas of Malkangiri district.

The Orissa government had first moved the Supreme Court after MoEF had given its interim approval for the project in 2008.

Now, it has sought a declaration that Andhra Pradesh had no right or entitlement to undertake or proceed with the project on the Godavari river. It has also stated that embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods.

The Orissa government has also accused the Central Water Commission of not furnishing any details before approving the project.

The filing of the petition in the apex court comes on the heels of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s statement that Orissa would continue to oppose the Polavaram project, owing to its concerns of submergence of tribal villages and forest land.

SANDRP on Polavaram

2010-09-03T02:54:00.000-07:00

Sept 2 2010

From:
Himanshu Thakkar
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People,�
c/o 86-D, AD block, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi,�himanshuthakkar@iitbombay.org, ht.sandrp@gmail.com�www.sandrp.in
Ph: 27484655/ 9968242798 9968242798

To: Shri Jairam Ramesh
Union Minister of State for Env and Forests (IC), New Delhi

Respected Sir,

I have just seen your letter dated Aug 18, 2010 to�Orissa�Chief�Minister on the aboves subject, uploaded yesterday on MEF website.�

1. Your letter says that the Forest Clearance has been given to the Polavaram Project on July 28, 2010 is subject to the condition, "... no submergence and displacement of people including STs take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh...". However, this condition is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by your ministry on Oct 25, 2005, which says in para 2, "Total 1,93,35 persons are likely to be affected by this project, out of that 1,75,275 persons in Andhra Pradesh and 6,316 persons from Orissa and 11,766 are from Chattisgarh."�It is clear the condition of no submergence and displacement on Orissa and Chhattisgarh, stated in your letter, in the Tribal Development Ministry's condition, and in the forest clearance letter is in complete contradiction with the environment clearance given by you. One of them have to be cancelled due to this contradiction, we would like to know, which one would be cancelled.�

2. This condition of no submergence or displacement in Orissa or Chhattisgarh is based on the proposal to construct embankments along the respective rivers in Orissa and Chhattisgarh. However, the proposal to construct these embankments was not part of the project that was given clearance by your ministry on Oct 25, 2005. This change in scope of the project came to light when the project went for CWC clearance (given on 23.01.2009 following flawed in principle forest clearance given by your ministry on Dec 26, 2008). Following letter from MEF, the Govt of AP applied for concurrence of the MEF for building embankments on 29.01.2009. The issue came up for discussion in the meeting of EAC of River Valley committee on Feb 16-17, 2009. Prior to this EAC meeting, we had sent a detailed letter on 13.02.2009 to the EAC, explaining the implications of the proposal, lack of EIA or public consultation process, how this changes the scope of the project and so on, the same is attached. It is clear from details of this letter that hundred of ha of land would be required in Orissa and Chhattisgarh for the building of embankments, for mining of materials for building of embankments, for leaving land on the banks of the river on both sides, for building approach road, for building cross drainage channels and so on. A very large portion of this land would be forest land and it would also imply displacement of the people and their livelihoods. This itself is sufficient ground to show that MOTA condition, Orissa HC condition, your condition and FC condition of no submergence and displacement in Orissa and Chhattisgarh is impossible to adhere to, and this should again be sufficient ground to cancel both the priliminary and final FC given by your minister.�

3. After the EAC meeting of Feb 16-17 2009, the EAC decided on this issue, "The EAC therefore directed the project proponent to initiate suitable action requesting the appropriate authorities in Orissa & Chattisgarh for conducting public hearings in the respective states of Chattisgarh & Orissa in respect of embankment proposal and report back to the committee."�I am attaching the minutes of this EAC meeting for ready reference. This decision of the EAC implies that the project needs fresh clearance for this component and since project without this component would violate the various legal norms and conditions the project also cannot go ahead without that. However, the project is yet to take these steps and if it were to take this steps it would violate your conditions of no submergence and displacement in Orissa and Chhattisgarh. It is clear that your condition of no submergence and displacement in Orissa and Chhattisgarh is impossible to adhere to and hence the FC of the project has to be cancelled.�

4. Here we would like to add that the EAC decision in Feb 16-17 2009 meeting was flawed since it is clear that this was changing the scope of the project cleared earlier. So EAC should also have asked that the earlier EC be cancelled till this decision is followed.�

5. The Forest clearance given by your ministry, incidentally, has a condition, namely no (x), which says, "The project authority shall maintain flow of water in the down-stream course of river equal to the normal flow of water existing in pre-dam condition". I am at a loss to understand if this condition is to be adhered to (and I assume it needs to be adhered to all round the year, in all years, since there are no qualifications in the condition), how can the dam be built or operated at all? It seems there has not been sufficient application of mind while according �the final FC dated 28.7.2010, which is sufficient reason for its cancellation.�

These objections to the final FC and narration of the contradictions in your letter actually gives an opportunity to revisit the project �and look for better options in achieving the irrigation and water supply in project areas. Hope you will take necessary steps in that direction after cancelling the flawed Environment clearance of Oct 25, 2005 (which was also quashed by NEAA in Dec 2007) and the forest clearances of Dec 26, 2008 and July 28, 2010.�

I would be happy to explain these issues if necessary and will look forward to your early response.�

Thanking you,
Himanshu Thakkar

Polavaram Politics

2010-09-03T01:59:00.000-07:00

Centre allays Orissa's fears over Polavaram project

J. Venkatesan

Affidavit justifies go-ahead for A.P. irrigation project

A.P. will build embankments with drainage arrangements

Embankments are not permanent solutions: Orissa

New Delhi: The Centre has justified in the Supreme Court the grant of clearance for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, and said protection against submergence would be ensured.

In its response to the suit filed by Orissa seeking suspension of work on the Polavaram Indira Sagar Project, the Central Water Commission (CWC), in its affidavit filed on Wednesday, said the final award of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal in 1980 had settled all issues of submergence.

The Centre noted that the Environment and Forests Ministry had accepted the project proposal in January 2009, asking Andhra Pradesh to ensure that there was no submergence of any habitation or forest area in Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Andhra Pradesh would construct embankments with adequate drainage arrangements to prevent submergence from backwater effect as well as reservoir submergence and consequent displacement of people in the two neighbouring States.

Multipurpose

The Centre said the Polavaram project was conceived as a multipurpose scheme providing irrigation to 4.36 lakh hectares, water supply to towns and villages en route, and generating hydel power with an installed capacity of 960 MW. The project envisaged construction of an earth-cum-rockfill dam. It fulfilled the criteria for being called a national project, and investment clearance was given by the Planning Commission in February 2009.

Allaying Orissa's fears of submergence due to floods, the Centre said the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) estimated for the project was 1, 41,435 cumecs (about 50 lakh cusecs) was in order. The proposed spillway was capable was disposing of the PMF, and dam safety had been checked for this condition.

The Centre said Andhra Pradesh had been asked to furnish a confirmation report that there was no change in the number of project-affected Scheduled Tribe families from what was reported at the time of clearance of the Relief and Rehabilitation Plan, and that all protective steps had been taken to prevent submergence.

‘No details from CWC'

In its suit, Orissa had sought a declaration that Andhra Pradesh had no right or entitlement to undertake or proceed with the Polavaram project on the Godavari. It faulted the CWC for not furnishing any detail before approving the project. Embankments were not permanent solutions to effectively contain submergence during floods.

Also, the extent of submergence due to design flood (which had been revised to 50 lakh cusecs from the original 36 lakh cusecs by the CWC itself) and the backwater effect along the Sabari and Sileru limbs (flowing through Orissa territory into the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh) had been finalised by the CWC without estimating the flood contributions from these limbs separately by following any rational procedure or acceptable norm, Orissa said. It said the project was likely to submerge 2119.38 hectares of land in Naxalite-affected tribal areas of Malkangiri district.

2010-09-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

State's ‘attitude' on river waters flayed

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: The Southern Orissa Development Council (SODC), a people's forum, here on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the State government for its alleged indifferent approach to utlising river water.

The criticism came in wake of possibility of submergence of more than 20 villages in Orissa by Polavaram project of Andhra Pradesh. Addressing a press conference here, Dayanidhi Sahoo, president of SODC, said successive governments in Orissa had failed to realise potential of rivers passing through southern districts and as a result Andhra Pradesh was planning project after project using runoff water from Orissa rivers, it said.

SODC demanded establishment of Water Resource Development Authority for Rushikulya, Vanshadhara, Nagabali, Kolab and Indravati rivers.

“River Godavari in Andrha Pradesh is enriched by water from the rivers like Machakund, Sileru, Potteru, Saptadhara-Kolab-Saveri which originate from mountains of Koraput.

Had Orissa government been serious on protesting against Polavaram project, it should have started irrigation projects the upstream,” the SODC president said.

Now the State was facing imminent threat of getting affected by Indira Sagar project at Polavaram. “Under present circumstances, leaders irrespective of party lines should get united and oppose the project,” he said.

Similarly, although Indravati was flowing in many parts of Nabrangpur district, agriculture there remained dependant on rain, Mr. Sahoo said. He said the Orissa government was not focusing its attention on preventing water from flowing into Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Situation was similar on rivers such as Mahendratanaya, Jhanjavati and Vanshadhara, Mr. Sahoo sai.d

'Flooding' Investments

2010-09-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

Traditionally unheard of, flood has become a regular feature in these rivers, thanks to our river managers and decision makers. These man-made floods are the result of diversion of Indravati water, which after power production, flows to the narrow-channel of the Hati, subsequently draining to the Tel. It is a fact that it is the water of Indravati that is causing flash floods in these rivers of late.

The arrogance and shortsightedness of the mainstream river management paradigm is clearly evident in this example, where at one point, investment is made to cause flood (by diverting water) and then further investment is justified at another point to control flood. Is it a sheer coincidence that while both the interventions suit engineers, contractors and politicians, it is the people who suffer - be it the downstream inhabitants of Indravati suffering from water exclusion or the communities in the river banks of Hati, Tel and Udanti facing flash floods.

Who are our rivers for any way?

Floods: River embankments to be strengthened
Express News Service
First Published : 31 Aug 2010 08:57:30 AM IST
Last Updated :

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to strengthen the embankment of the Tel, the Hati and the Udanti rivers to deal with the flash floods in Kalahandi and Nabarangpur districts.

The total length of the embankments is 54 km. Official sources said that ` 90 crore would be required for strengthening the embankments. A decision was taken to request National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for financial assistance to implement the project.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surjya Narayan Patro at the Secretariat today.

For strengthening of embankment at vulnerable points ` 3 crore will be needed out of which the Water Resources Department will provide ` 1 crore and ` 2 crore will be made available by the Revenue Department. Apart from strengthening of the embankments, the submergible culvert near Junagarh over the Hati river on NH-201 will be replaced by a high-level bridge. The project will be undertaken by the Works Department.

Among others, Secretaries of Rural Development, Water Resources, Revenue and senior officials were present.

Polavaram Politics

2010-08-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Orissa to move Supreme Court against Polavaram project

Posted by news on Aug 30th, 2010
Bhubaneswar, Aug 30 (IANS) Orissa Monday said it will move the Supreme Court against the clearance granted by the union environment and forests ministry to the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project on river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.

“We will file a petition in the Supreme Court in a day or two seeking scrapping of the forest clearance granted to the project as it will submerge several villages in Orissa’s Malkangiri district,” state Water Resources Secretary S.C. Mohapatra told IANS.

The ministry granted approval last month saying that there would be no submergence of Orissa’s area as the Andhra Pradesh government will build a wall along the border with the state to prevent flooding in Orissa.

“They took the decision considering that only ten villages would be submerged. But that is not true. More villages will be affected in our state,” Mohapatra said.

“No assessment on its impact in Orissa was done yet. Similarly no public hearing was also done in the villages which would be affected by the project,” he said.

The Orissa government moved the Supreme Court after the ministry first granted interim approval to the project in 2008.

“When the case is still pending in the court, we are surprised how the ministry granted final approval,” he said.

The state government is also unhappy over the way the clearance was given without consulting the people in Orissa and Chhattisgarh who would be affected by the project, he said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh early this month seeking withdrawal of the permission, Mohapatra said

He said he himself wrote to the environment and forests secretary.

The Andhra Pradesh government says the Rs.10,150-crore project will provide drinking water to 2.85 million people, produce 960 MW of power and give industry 23,500 million cubic feet of water.

The project first envisioned by the British rulers in 1941 has, however, been facing opposition since decades from local residents who fear displacement, as well as from Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh and Orissa fear that after completion of the project, in case of floods, the back water of the Godavari will flow to its tributaries Saberi and Sileru in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and submerge dozens of villages.

Andhra Pradesh said it will put embankments on the river but Orissa officials said that it was not the solution.

The central ministry gave the final clearance for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land last month for the project on the condition that no submergence of forest land should take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Polavaram Politics

2010-08-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

'Vedanta standards apply to Polavaram'
Sreelatha Menon / New Delhi August 30, 2010, 0:39 IST

N C Saxena, who led the committee which recommended against permitting mining of the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, says the same approach should be adopted for Andhra Pradesh’s mammoth Polavaram hydro project, too.

If there is violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) there, too, it should not be allowed, as that is the law of the land, Saxena told Business Standard.
The Polavaram dam being constructed on the Godavari river by the Andhra Pradesh government for irrigation and power generation got final clearance from the ministry of environment and forests a month earlier, despite detailed charges of violation of the FRA and despite a submergence area of 7,500 hectares of forest land involved.

About 330 tribal villages fall in the submergence area. The state government has been accused of not setting up forest rights committees at the gram sabha level in each of these villages to seek the consent of the people and to evaluate their right to the forests that are being removed.

The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre has been accused of double standards, for rejecting Vedanta on the one hand and allowing Polavaram on the other.

The Saxena committee’s interpretation of the FRA makes the say of the forest dwellers even superior to that of the ministry itself. But it has not been applied here.

N C Saxena says if the gram sabhas have not been heard in Polavaram, then it is illegal. Asked if he would take it up in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, where he is a member, he declined to commit himself. But said people and activists could use the Vedanta verdict and the committee report to get justice. They could appeal to both the courts and the Union environment ministry, he said, even if the final clearance had been officially given.

The National Environment Appellate Authority had accused the Andhra government of FRA violations, particularly not seeking the consent of gram sabhas of the 330 villages involved.

These are mostly in East and West Godavari districts, besides two districts of Orissa and in Chhattisgarh.

The state government has since redesigned the dam by including a wall along the state border to prevent flooding in neighbouring Orissa and Chhattisgarh. This would mean additional requirement of land.

The environment appraisal committee of the ministry itself had asked for a fresh application in view of this changed design. However, the clearance came in spite of this.

Orissa and Chhattisgarh have both opposed the project, as it is feared to cause floods in their villages once completed.

Mounting River Pollution

2010-08-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

Pollution in Bheden and Ib (OPCB unveils action plan for coal belt)

The CPCB which had carried out a survey across the polluted industrial clusters of the country had developed a Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI). Ib Valley-Jharsuguda was given a score above 70 making the region heavily polluted.
In its pollution abatement plan, the Board called for creation of a reservoir for storage of mine drainage water and runoff which can be used for industrial purpose. An aluminium smelter plant operating in the close proximity of the Bheden river discharges its water to Hirakud reservoir. Since the smelter plant handles substantial quantity of fluoride-bearing materials, there is an apprehension that it may find its way to the Bheden and contaminate the water.
Besides, during monsoon, run-offs from various stockpiles like coal, minerals, solid waste get discharged to the river Ib, the Bheden and Hirakud reservoir through its feeder streams

Since sewage from Jharsuguda and Brajarajnagar towns are discharged into the Ib river without any treatment causing contamination of river water, the plan suggested a treatment plant for both the towns. All the abatement measures suggested included a deadline to be met.

Dying Rivers

2010-08-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Farmers, fishermen lose livelihood

Amarnath Parida
First Published : 27 Aug 2010 08:41:14 AM IST
Last Updated :

PARADIP: Many rivers, considered the lifeline of Jagatsinghpur, have either dried up or are polluted with industrial waste and sewerage.

The Alaka river that was flowing through Biridi, Jagatsinghpur, Balikuda, Raghunathpur and Nuagaon blocks has completely dried up. The rivers like Chhatagunthi, Gaichara at Biridi, Kathjodi, Sukapaika, Asurkhajoer in Raghunathpur, Balia, Saharapentha, Machiyadiha in Kujang, Magura Mohan in Balikuda and Galani in Nuagaon have met with similar fate. These rivers provided irrigation water to around 776 hectares besides giving fishermen their livelihood.

A vegetable farmer Brundaban Sahoo of Biridi, who owns six acres of land on the banks of the Alaka, used to harvest 300 quintals of paddy and vegetables from his fields 15 years back. But after the river dried up, he has not been able to grow anything in his field. Similar is the fate of fishermen. It is the same story in all the villages that depend on these rivers.

While some rivers have completely dried up, some have narrowed down due to siltation and encroachment.

Recently, the Fishery Department conducted a micro-level survey and estimated Rs 1,139 crore towards renovation, de-weeding, construction of sluice gates on the rivers.

District Fishery Officer Pabitra Behera said the Department had decided to undertake the project to procure 15,000 MT fish by 2015 while last year’s production was 5,226 MT.

Besides, two primary fishermen cooperative societies and four SHGs have taken fiveyear lease to renovate the polluted and dried up rivers at a cost of Rs 2.50 lakh.

Vamshadhara-river erosion

2010-08-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Steps afoot to save villages from erosion

Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR: Efforts have been initiated to save villages in Kasinagar block and Kasinagar town of Gajapati district from increasing erosive action of the Vansadhara river.

Villages of Khandaba, Budora and Kidigaon panchayats as well as the Kasinagar Notified Area Council (NAC) are facing floods and extreme erosion since past few years. As per the localites, the erosive action of the Vansadhara river in their area is more following construction of spurs and embankments on the Andhra Pradesh side of the river in this interstate border area.

Since past many years people have been demanding construction of guard walls to save the villages of three panchayats and Kasinagar town from the wrath of the Vansadhara river which is rapidly changing its course in this area during floods in monsoon.

Speaking to The Hindu, K. Narayana Rao, MLA of Paralakhemundi, says the State government has sanctioned Rs. 10 crores to save these areas from the erosive action of the river. Under this project, strong guard walls will be built near 14 villages identified to be facing erosion of the river. Guard wall will also be built near Kasinagar town to save it from the floods and erosion of the Vansadahara river. In total, more than five km of guard wall will be constructed in the area. It may be noted that 18 km stretch of the river is facing severe erosion in the area. But efforts are on to save the human habitats first. Tender process for this project is almost complete and the construction work will start after the rainy season, says Mr. Rao.

Urban Water Supply

2010-08-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

Govt set to plug overflowing taps
- Awareness drive to pay fine and legalise water connections
SUBHASHISH MOHANTY
When several districts in the state is facing drought-like situation, citizens in Bhubaneswar show no concern to save water. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: Believe it or not. Nearly 100 million litre of water gets wasted in the city everyday.

Bhubaneswar is one of the few cities in the country where the water supply capacity is almost double its requirement.

Though the city’s requires 160 million litres of water daily, the public health engineering department has the capacity to supply 260 million litres of water everyday.

“Nearly 100 million litres of water gets wasted everyday because of lack of awareness among the people on the use of water,” said M.R. Nanda, executive engineer of Bhubaneswar city. Officials said it could be stopped if the state government plans to introduce water metre.

The officials said that though the government had mooted the idea to introduce water metre, it has so far refrained from implementing the scheme fearing public backlash.

At present, Bhubaneswar gets water from Mahanadi, Daya and Kuakhai rivers. While 125 million litres of water is being taken everyday from Kuakhai, 20 million litres is drawn from Daya and 60 million litres from Mahanadi. The rest is sourced from underground water sources and small streams.

In a bid to crack down on illegal water connections, the public health engineering department has regularised 819 unauthorised connections during the last seven days in the city.

“We have collected Rs 15 lakh by converting unauthorised connections into regular ones. The money has been collected under the amnesty scheme that ended on Friday. Though the amnesty scheme has ended, there are several other schemes that the people can avail and take benefit from,” said Nanda.

He further added that all attempts had been made to regularise illegal water connections. Though it is very difficult to ascertain the exact number of illegal connections, Bhubaneswar has 61,000 regular connection points. Over the last two years, the number of regular water connections has jumped from 54,000 to 61,000.

One connection point can provide water to more than 400 households. “The entire campus of Utkal University is considered a single connection,” he said.

To reach out to the masses and create awareness among the people, the public health engineering department has started a water connection mela.

“We visit a particular area on public holidays so that people can take benefit of our awareness campaigns. At these camps, local residents can regularise their unauthorised connections by paying a fine of Rs 500,” he added.

Earlier, one had to wait for nearly 20-30 days to get a new connection. Now one can get a connection by paying Rs 3,060 even in instalments to get an authorised connection. “The monthly average collection of the waste cess is around Rs 1.20 core,” Nanda added.

Oil Spill in Brahmani!

2010-08-23T05:31:00.000-07:00

Oil layer in Brahmani worries people on the bank
Express News Service
First Published : 23 Aug 2010 10:20:28 AM IST
Last Updated : 23 Aug 2010 11:51:39 AM IST

TALCHER: A Layer of oil and dust on the water of the river Brahmani has led to panic among the people living upstream of Samal barrage.

A blue coloured oil layer is clearly visible upstream of Samal barrage upto 10 km, informed villagers of Seepur and Durgapur, located on the banks of the river. Every bucket of water drawn from the river contains oil, they alleged.

The villagers, to their surprise, also find the water warm like in summer which is unusual during this time of the year. Some others complained of fly ash polluting the air.

But none points to any particular industry for the pollution. They apprehend that oil leakages from industries in the localities may be a factor.

The restive villagers said this poses serious health hazard to human and animal lives.

They have threatened to take to the streets if the administration and pollution control board fail to address the issue immediately.

District BJP president Asoke Mohanty has urged Orissa State Pollution Control Board authorities and district administration to take immediate action against errant industries and check such pollution.

Polavarm Politics

2010-08-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik to meet Prime Minister over Polavaram, Posco, Vedanta issue

Report by Orissa Diary correspondent; Bhubaneswar: The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will leave for New Delhi on Sunday. He will meet the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh over the Polavaram (Indira Sagar ) issue Chief Minister. The state government has been opposing the Polavaram project over river Godavari by Andhra Pradesh government as it claims that it would submerge many areas of Malkangiri district of Orissa. Besides this, the Chief Minister will also discuss with the Prime Minister regarding the NC Saxena Committee report on Posco and Vedanta.

Raising doubts on the impartiality of the Centre, the state government had earlier questioned the blockage of Posco project and Vedanta at the same time when it has approved the Polavaram Dam without conducting Gram Sabhas and public hearings in the state.

Moreover, the Environment Ministry has recently given its green signal to divert over 3,000 hectares of forest land for the construction of Indira Sagar (Polavaram) multi-purpose project.

Politics around Polavaram

2010-08-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

Orissa Congress MPs to oppose Polavaram Project

Report by Dipti Ranjan Kanungo; Bhubaneswar: Politics makes strange bedfellows! It seems that Congress and BJD members are now in unison over the Polavaram issue. It is evident from the fact that Nabrangpur Congress MP and State Youth Congress President Pradeep Majhi is now joint hands with ruling BJD to oppose the multi-purpose Polavaram Project on river Godavari.

On Thursday Sri Majhi praised the oppose to the Polavaram Project and expressed that he will oppose the project till fulfill their demands. He further expressed that the Andhra Pradesh government is constructing the Polavaram project in the border of Malkangiri district. If the Project will be constructed , at least 28 villages and 15thousand Acres of land will be submerged. The innocent tribals and scheduled castes will be affected by this project. The areas which will be submerged are my areas. I will never leave it .

Pradeep Majhi who represents the tribal face of Nabrangpur as Lok Sabha member has joined the widespread protest in the state for the proposed Polavaram project which would divert over 3,000 hectares of forest land for the construction of the Indira Sagar (Polavaram) multi-purpose project.

He would raise voice against the Centre’s decision to grant eco clearance to the project if there is possible submersion .

Earlier on Wednesday, BJD MPs staged a demonstration near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament premises to protest the environmental clearance given to Polavaram. The parliamentarians alleged that the double standards adopted by Ministry of Environment and Forests have been exposed. The ministry has permitted eco NOD to the project within a fortnight without considering Orissa’s concerns.

On the other hand, Congress MP Bhakta Das who on Wednesday asked the BJD MPs not to politicalise the issue . It was a support to the Andhra Pradesh government but he has expressed that it will be opposed, if any village will be submerged by the Project.

Linking Mahanadi with Rushikulya

2010-08-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Panda demands linking of rivers in Orissa
PTI

Berhampur (Orissa), Aug 11 (PTI) Demanding quick steps to link Rushikulya and Mahanadi rivers in Orissa, former deputy speaker of the state assembly Ram Chandra Panda has asked the Central Water Commission (CWC) to implement the long-standing proposal for the benefit the people of southern region."I have impressed upon the CWC about the benefits of linking the two rivers", he said.After seeing the project report, the CWC had assured him to look into the project, he claimed adding that he had submitted a memorandum to the CWC in this regard.The connectivity between Mahanadi and Rushikulya and construction of a barrage near Dasapalla would not only solve the perennial drinking water crisis of Berhampur town but would also help the farmers in Ganjam district by creating additional irrigation facilities, the BJP leader said.Panda, chairman of Rushikulya Banchao Manch (RBM), the outfit spearheading an agitation in support of linking the two rivers with River Bansadhara as well, said state government had promised to implant the project, but later abandoned it.Major portion of Rushikulya flows through Ganjam district and the Mahanadi through Cuttack district. River Vansadhara flows in Gajapati and Rayagada districts.Connecting the three rivers would also solve the frequent floods in river Vansadhara in Rayagada and Gajapati districts, he said.Stating that he had been demanding connectivity between Rushikulya and Mahanadi since 2000, Panda said the then prime minister Atal Behari Bajpayee had appreciated the proposal when he was apprised about it. Panda had made a detailed project report through a retired chief engineer of irrigation department.

Orissa demands withdrawal of clearance to Polavaram project

2010-08-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Orissa demands withdrawal of clearance to Polavaram project

Bhubaneswar, Aug 9 – Orissa Monday said it has asked the central environment and forests ministry to withdraw clearance to the Polavaram project on river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.

‘While granting the approval, the ministry has totally ignored the interest of Orissa,’ state Water Resources Secretary S.C. Mohapatra told IANS.

Orissa government moved the Supreme Court after the ministry first granted interim approval to the project in 2008. ‘When the case is still pending in the court, we are surprised how the ministry granted final approval,’ he said.

The state government is also unhappy the way the clearance was given without consulting the people in Orissa and Chhattisgarh who would be affected by the project, he said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh seeking withdrawal of the permission, Mohapatra said, adding he had himself written a letter to the environment and forests secretary.

The Andhra Pradesh government says the Rs.10,150-crore project will provide drinking water to 2.85 million people, produce 960 MW of power and give industry 23,500 million cubic feet of water.

The project first envisioned by the British rulers in 1941 has, however, been facing opposition since decades from local residents who fear displacement, as well as from Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh and Orissa fear that after completion of the project, in case of floods, the back water of the Godavari will flow to its tributaries Saberi and Sileru in Orissa and Chhattisgarh and submerge dozens of bordering villages.

Andhra Pradesh said it will put embankments on the river but Orissa officials said that is not the solution.

The central environment and forests ministry gave the final clearance for diversion of 3,731.07 hectares of forest land last month for the project on condition that no submergence of forest land should take place in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

Government defends ‘water for industries’ stand

2010-08-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

Government defends ‘water for industries’ stand
Express News Service
First Published : 06 Aug 2010 07:47:42 AM IST
Last Updated : 06 Aug 2010 12:10:30 PM IST
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government today sought to water down the Opposition charges over use of the Mahanadi water for industries.
Against the backdrop of the agitation against the use of the river water for industrial use picking up steam, an unrelenting government strongly defended its decision to supply water to industries from the river and Hirakud reservoir.
Dismissing Opposition claims that there is insufficient water in Mahanadi as its bed has become swallow due to heavy siltation, Industries Minister Raghunath Mohanty said 66 per cent of water flows down the sea unutilised.
“Only 14 per cent of Mahanadi water is used in monsoon season, while 34 per cent of it is available for use during non-monsoon period,” he said while making a statement in response to a calling attention motion moved by ruling BJD members.
The Minister rejected demand of Mahanadi Banchao Andolan (MBA) for constitution of a commission to examine different aspects of the river water use terming it ‘irrelevant’.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) examines all technical aspects while approving all inter-state irrigation projects. Besides, the State Government has set up a high- level technical committee for better management of the Mahanadi river water and suggesting flood-control measures.
While 7.9 per cent water from the river is given to industries during the non-monsoon season, 12.95 per cent is meant for agriculture and 2.2 per cent for drinking water, he said. Refuting the Opposition charge that the State Government is providing water to industries at the cost of farmers, the Minister said the Centre’s policy on water distribution is being followed. He said drinking water comes first in the priority list followed by ecological and environmental protection, agriculture, hydro electricity projects, industries and tourism.
Mohanty asserted that agriculture has been given priority in river water distribution and the State Government would not act against the interest of farmers. There are 17 reservoirs, including Hirakud, on Mahanadi while six more large and medium reservoirs are under construction.
After the completion of these projects, expected in 2014, 15 per cent of water flowing into the sea can be utilised, he said.
He said agreements have been signed with 35 industries for supply of water from the Naraj barrage. Only eight are drawing water from the barrage at present.
Similarly, 14 industries have been allowed to draw water from the Hirakud reservoir, he said. Quoting a CWC report in 2007, the Minister said 0.500 million acre feet Mahanadi water could be used in industries. “Now industries use only 0.0785 million acre feet of water which is much less than the recommended supply,” he said.

Environmental Flows: Free-flowing rivers around the world

2010-08-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Environmental Flows: Free-flowing rivers around the world - Parineeta Dandekar of Gomukh Trust, Pune

First in a new series of articles that India Water Portal will host on various aspects of Environmental Flows

Industry cloud on river water

2010-08-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

Industry cloud on river water

Bhubaneswar, July 14: The debate over industries polluting water bodies notwithstanding, yet another integrated steel plant (ISP) has been proposed in the over-polluted Jharsuguda-Sambalpur belt. The latest project is likely to take further toll on Mahanadi and its tributaries.

The mini ISP of Raipur Iron and Steel Company Private Limited at Kirarama in Lakhanpur block of Jharsuguda district would draw 4,500 cubic metres of water daily from Ib, a major tributary of Mahanadi, for the production of sponge iron, MS billets and TMT bars. The unit would also generate 33MW of power besides having a coal washery. With at least seven major industries, including two integrated steel plants and coal mines located within a 10km radius of the project site, civil society members apprehend not only a threat to the flow of rivers like Ib, Bheden and Mahanadi catering to the drinking water and irrigation needs of around five lakh people but also a significant rise in the pollution levels.

“The Sambalpur-Jharsuguda belt is already overloaded with industries with even the Central Pollution Control Board advising against the setting up of new units in the area without a proper carrying capacity study. One wonders as to why the government is in such a hurry to set up new industries in this region where pollution keeps growing and all rivers are under tremendous pressure,” said Ranjan Panda, the convener of Water Initiatives Orissa, a non-profit.

Pointing out that around 70 small and big industries operate in the area, Panda said the impact of rampant industrialisation has been felt by almost all the rivers, including Mahanadi, Ib and Beheden, with their flow drastically reduced. “The drop in their flow has been around 30 per cent which is quite significant considering they cater to the needs of a large population,” added the expert.

He said barring monsoon, the rivers were not even able to maintain their minimum ecological flow, having a bad impact on agriculture. Quite a few of these industries have also been tapping water from the riverbeds on the sly. While unauthorised drawl of water is a fact admitted even by officials, in the absence of a water audit, authentic data in this regard is hard to acquire.

Lashing out at the government for allowing more and more industries to come up in the area, convener of Paschim Orissa Krushak Sangathan Samanvaya Samiti Lingraj said a crisis seems approaching for the local fishing community.

“Lakhanpur block, where the new unit is coming up, has a sizeable fishing population that would face a threat with heavy drawal of water from Ib. Growing pressure on Hirakud reservoir has made things difficult for the community in its periphery areas. The government must review its industrial policy immediately in the larger interest of the people,” added Lingraj.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100715/jsp/orissa/story_12683942.jsp

Is the Mahanadi Water going to sea not used/unutilized/waste?

2010-08-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

Is the Mahanadi Water going to sea not used/unutilized/waste?

Over last two days (Aug 5th and 6th), two Senior Ministers of the State have made two different yet significant remarks (see news link below) about water allocation from the Mahanadi- but both have made the same argument that water which goes to sea in the Mahanadi is not used/utilized or has no users. It is a dangerous thinking, almost toeing the line of Engineering (an economic) paradigm of river management which believes that water going (or draining!) to sea is a waste and therefore there should be as many storages and diversions as possible and that such waters stored/channelized should be put to economic uses.

However, it is now a fact that such paradigm has lead to disastrous consequences leading to close river basins (viz. Krishna), more floods, depletion of mangroves, stopping of formation of delta, ingression of salinity, dwindling aquatic biodiversity, losing of fishermen’s livelihoods, destruction of river-bank livelihoods including agriculture apart from negative implications on culture. It is quite surprising that, while dams are being decommissioned, environmental flows (not in the line, dominant thinking in India i.e. allowing about 15% of to flow in the river as environmental flow and abstracting others for economic use) and living (and undammed) rivers are becoming symbols of future river management elsewhere in the World, our decision makers are tirelessly defending the failed paradigms.

A river lives when it flows. It has to flow to remain live. By flowing a river
o flushes its channels (doesn’t allow sedimentation and rising of river beds),
o recharge sub-surface water (there is a saying that below every river, another sub-surface river runs),
o supports aquatic fauna including fisheries and livelihoods around them
o support riparian habitats through river-bank livelihoods
o creates delta/flood plains (through overflowing and spreading silt)

People living in Mahanadi delta don’t require to be told about its dwindling flows, increased sedimentation of the river bed, increasing flood damages, increasing threats of saline ingression and change in tidal patterns, reduction of aquatic biodiversity and fish catches so on and so forth. In stead of substantiating allocation to industry by making such statements about how much water is draining unused to sea, what is required is instituting scientific investigations into these changes, which unless taken up now, can lead us to points of no return, the way our industrial development ambitions are expanding.

There is also another statistical dimension to these figures quoted by our Ministers, which requires closer scrutiny. While Industries minister says 67% of Mahanadi water (Is it total Mahanadi water?) flowing to sea unused, Agriculture Minister says 66% of Water from Jobra (others going to Taldanda and Machhgaon) canal flows to the sea. These two statements are not same, as one tells about whole Mahanadi without reference to any points and another point to allocations at Jobra. Civil society must also know the sources of these data and methodology followed to triangulate the figures.

There are many figures floating around concerning water allocation to industries. While they could be true as per the agreements signed with WRD, exact amount taken is often difficult to know with allegations about higher withdrawal. This is due to the fact that most of the industries are drawing water from reservoir or barrage directly in contrast to agriculture which is provided through canals (canal allocation can be easily verified from daily flow in cusec/cumec from canal head). Therefore it is very important to have regulatory mechanism in place to monitor extraction by industry or simply putting a ban on their extraction from reservoir/barrage and asking them to take through other sources. After all, no major reservoir and barrage was ever constructed out of public money with an objective to allocating water to profit-making private concerns.

In the allocation debate, often a critical issue like ‘pollution’ of rivers by industry get lost. It must be kept in mind, Industry not only take good water in bulk from best sources, but also put its worst water back into our lifelines. We must not forget that the first ever ‘environmental movement’ in Orissa was fought around this very issue way back in 1950s by l ate Sradhakar Supker, who had filed a petition before court to save river IB and Mahanadi from pollution caused by Orient Paper Mill of Brajaraj Nagar, even before Hirakud Dam was built.

Civil society must rise to engage itself more closely, critically and also strategically in this whole debate about water allocations and use – be it prioritization through policy, execution through agreements or monitoring and regulation.

News Links

Orissa defends water supplies to industries
Says 67 percent of Mahanadi water flows into the sea as there is no user
PTI | Bhubaneswar | August 05 2010
http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/orissa-defends-water-supplies-industries

Agriculture Minister bats for industries

Express News Service
First Published : 04 Aug 2010 05:14:47 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 Aug 2010 12:12:44 PM IST
http://expressbuzz.com/states/orissa/agriculture-minister-bats-for-industries/195367.html

MBA for Mahanadi Commission

2010-08-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Formation of Mahanadi Commission demanded

Special Correspondent

Mahanadi Bachao Andolan submits memorandum to Governor listing its demands

The river is helping over two crore people in irrigating their land, they say

State's decision to allow companies to draw water opposed

BHUBANESWAR: The Mahanadi Bachao Andolan, a Cuttack-based people's organisation opposing diversion of water from river Mahanadi to various industries, on Saturday urged Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare to constitute a Mahanadi Commission to conduct a detailed survey on the existing condition of the river and the Hirakud Dam.

A delegation headed by Convener of the Andolan Gouranga Charan Hota met the Governor at the Raj Bhavan here and submitted a memorandum listing their demands.

The Commission, which should be an independent body with necessary powers, should be asked to come out with details on the method of water conservation, distribution, power generation, irrigation, drinking water and existing level of ground water including the steps to arrest the decay of the river and the dam, the Andolan said in its memorandum.

Pending the findings of the Commission, all the agreements signed by the State Government with various industrial houses to draw water from Mahanadi and Hirakud dam, and barrages at Jobra and Naraj should be cancelled with immediate effect, the Andolan demanded.

Apart from Mr. Hota, other members of the delegation include former Ministers Bijoy Mohapatra, Panchanan Kanungo and Sameer Dey, former Member of Parliament Narendra Pradhan, former legislator Umesh Swain and BJP leader Dillip Mallick.

They submitted that mindless exploitation and abuse of Mahanadi, the State's prime river, should be forthwith to save the State from a socio-economic disaster.

The river had an imposing presence in 15 of the State's 30 districts through its various tributaries and distributaries helping over two crore people in irrigating their land, they said.

Apart from maintaining a steady ground water level in the areas of her presence, the river also contributes to various other economic activities, they added.

They opposed the State Government's decisions to allow many companies to draw water from the river saying that there was no surplus water at a time when there was not much for drinking and irrigation purposes.

Mahanadi Banchao Andolan appeals the Governor

2010-08-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

Governor''s intervention sought for setting up river panel
PTI

Bhubaneswar, Aug 1 (PTI) Intensifying the campaign against supply of river water to industries, a group of agitators have sought the Orissa Governor's intervention for formation of Mahanadi Commission to conduct a detailed survey on the river's health before diverting water.In a memorandum to Governor M C Bhandare, protesters under the banner of Mahanadi Banchao Andolan (MBA) said immediate steps must be taken for constitution of Mahanadi river commission to study the status of availability of water for various purposes as also the health of Hirakud dam.Describing Mahanadi as the chief source of water for agriculture and irrigation, the memorandum said the proposed commission should suggest steps to check decay of the river and Hirakud reservoir as well as efficient water management.Pending the findings of the panel, all agreements signed by Orissa government with various industries to draw water from Mahanadi, Hirakud reservoir, Jobra and Naraj barrages should be cancelled with immediate effect, it said.The memorandum, signed among others by MBA convenor Gouranga Charan Hota and former ministers Bijay Mohapatra, Samir Dey and Panchanan Kanungo, said the state should ensure water for irrigation to farmers in tail-end areas of Mahanadi river system and various canals before diverting water for industrial use.

2010-07-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

The problem of Baitarani is a shade worse than Mahanadi. There are three 'Iron ore Slurry Transportation' industries, all taking water from upper baitarani basin. Another few are in the offing.
75% of slurry is water by weight. All that water will simply turn up at the destination at Paradip (Essar),or Kalinga Nagar (BRPL), or at Angul (Jindal). Additional water is also drawn for beneficiation (mainly washing), whose slime is planned for release to the river bed, aggravating the silting problem of Kanupur Irrigation Project,
Our repeated request to WR deptt to take us to confidence and explain the logic and arithmatics of allocation of water to all users including Industry. Anandpur barrage is planned to irrigate 53800 Ha of land in Bhadrak and balasore district, right up to Budhabalang basin. Kanupur is designed to give 48000 Ha of irrigation in Upper Baitarani basin.
The silence of the WR is ominous because either they just donot know or, have surrendered to pressure from higher ups. The Citizens fear of a desert land in Kendujhar is simply being acceleraed.
On Mahanadi, our view is, if 70% waer is surplus flowing into the sea, why are,nt they take it just before the flow in to the sea. Why take it from Zobra, and not from the mouth of the river.

Kiran Sankar Sahu
President, Kendujhar Citizens' Forum

Pressure mounts on Naveen to stop water supply to industries from Mahanadi

2010-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Pressure mounts on Naveen to stop water supply to industries from Mahanadi
18 Jul 2010, 2318 hrs IST,Nageshwar Patnaik,ET Bureau
BHUBANESWAR: The Naveen Patnaik government has come under pressure to discontinue water supply to industries from Mahanadi River and form Water Commission to study water availability in the state's largest river.

Mahanadi Banchao Andolan, a newly formed forum comprising leaders of various political parties and social activists, on Sunday called upon the state government to discontinue water supply from Mahanadi to industrial houses failing which it would launch a vigorous protest campaign across the state.

"Mahanadi River is the lifeline of Orissa. The Hirakud dam, Naraj and Jobra barrages were constructed over it basically to cater to the irrigation and drinking water requirements. However, the present government is deliberately allowing the industrial houses from to draw water from these places at the cost of the farmers," said senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra.

Stating that water from Jobra barrage could not be supplied to farmers during the kharif season last year because of inadequate availability of the resource, Mr Mohapatra said the situation in coastal Orissa could somehow be saved after 3000 cusecs of water was released from Hirakud dam between September 30 and October 30.

Hirakud dam, which was constructed half a century ago, has lost its live storage capacity due to siltation and construction of nearly 30 dams and barrages in Chhattishgarh. Hydro-power generated from the dam has also come down from 240 mw to 90 mw due to inadequate water availability.

"When the water flow has gone down drastically to the dam, the government is committing water from it to heavy power and metal industries. Farmers are committing suicide due to lack of water. No sane and civilised government can act like this," Mr Mohapatra said.

The BJP leader called upon the state government to constitute a water commission on the lines of other state governments to study the water availability in the Mahanadi system. "Let the state government constitute a water commission. Until then water supply to all industries should be stopped forthwith," Mr Mohapatra said.

Congress leader Umesh Swain, who is also an active member of the forum, said a sitting high court justice should head the commission.

Samrudha Odisha leader Panchanan Kanungo, social workers Prabhat Mishra and Mahanadi Banchao Andolan convenor Hota, who were present in the press meet, said the forum would intensify its agitation against the state government if the later did not scrap all its water supply commitments to industrial houses.

The forum would meet on Thursday to decide its next course of action, convenor Mr Rout informed.

Halt diversion of Mahanadi water to industries: MBA to Orissa

2010-07-20T08:30:00.001-07:00

Halt diversion of Mahanadi water to industries: MBA to Orissa

Sun, Jul 18 06:13 PM

Bhubaneswar, July 18 (PTI) Mahanadi Banchao Andolan (MBA) today appealed to the Orissa government to immediately halt diversion of the river water to industries and demanded setting up a committee to analyse water availability in the Mahanadi. The situation warrants constitution of Mahanadi Commission to technically analyse availability of water for irrigation and other purposes.

Till then, supply of its water to industries must be stopped, senior leaders and functionaries of the MBA told reporters here. Describing as "foolish" the BJD government''s claim that agriculture will not be affected due to industrial use of river water, BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra, who is associated with the MBA, said the decision to divert water to industries must be reconsidered.

He said similar commissions have been constituted in some other states like Karnataka for proper and judicious use of river water. Hitting out at the government for not having any water conservation policy or programme, he alleged no step had been taken for storage of water either upstream of Hirakud dam or downstream of Mahanadi river.

Supply of water to four industries already drawing from the Mahanadi has been considerably reduced but the government wants to provide water to more units claiming that there is plenty of water for both agriculture and industrial use, Mohapatra said. Convener of Mahanadi Banchao Andolan Gouranga Charan Hota said the agitation against supply of river water to industries would be intensified across the state.

MBA leaders also alleged that the Orissa government''s decision to divert water at the cost of irrigation was "irrational, anti-farmer and anti-poor." PTI SKN PR.

Halt diversion of Mahanadi water to industries: MBA to Orissa

2010-07-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

MBA demands separate commission on Mahandi river

2010-07-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

MBA demands separate commission on Mahandi river

Bhubaneswar, Jul 18 : The Mahanadi Bachao Andolon (MBA) today demanded a separate commission be constituted on the pattern of Kaveri Commission in Tamilnadu to study the Mahanadi river system and decide the availability of water for irrigation and industrial houses.

MBA is a new outfit agitating against the industrial houses drawing water from Mahanadi river.

Until the Commission was constituted, no water should be allotted to the industrial units across the state from Mahanadi river, Hirakud reservoir and canal system, MBA Convenor G C Hota and and former Minister Bijaya Mohapatra said.

Addressing newspersons here, Mr Mohapatra criticised the Naveen Patnaik government for allowing several industrial houses to draw the water from Mahanadi completely ignoring the adverse impact it would have on the farmers community largely depended upon the river for agriculture.

He said the Mahanadi river is drying up and the water level at various points has decreased alarmingly as the 23,000 kms catchments areas of Hirakud reservoir has been intercepted by the Chhatisgarh governemnt which has by now already constructed nearly 30 check dams both minor and major to draw water.

The water capacity of the reservoir over the years had also decreased due to heavy siltation, Mr Mohapatra said, adding that over drawing of water by the industrial houses would further complicate the situation affecting the livelihood of lakhs of farmers.

Mr Mohapatra said the state government should find out alternative source of water while signing MoU with the industrial houses instead of allowing the companies to draw water from Mahanadi river.

He said as many as half of the districts in Orissa covered by the Mahanadi basin had already been affected due to shrinkage of water level of the river at various points.

The MBA leader said they would oppose the state government's move to provide water from Jobra barrage to POSCO, Indian Oil Company and SR Steels on the ground that it would have serious impact on the agriculture in Coastal Orissa.

He said the MBA has organised a massive rally at Jobra on Friday last to lodge its strong protest against the decision of the state government to provide water from the Jobra barrage to POSCO, Indian Oil Company and SR Steels and from Naraj barage to Tata Steel without any study on the availability of water from these two barrage of the Mahanadi river system.

People protest industries being given Mahanadi's water

2010-07-17T04:03:00.000-07:00

People protest industries being given Mahanadi's water
2010-07-16 19:50:00

More then two thousands residents, and social and political activists Friday staged a protest in Orissa's Cuttack city against the use of water from Mahanadi river by industries.

Accusing the state government of providing water meant for drinking and irrigation to various industries, the demonstrators also threatened to launch a massive agitation if the government does not cancel its plan.

'The government cannot give water to industries when there is already a scarcity,' Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan, who was among the protesters, told IANS.

'Adequate water is not available for drinking and irrigation purpose. Residents of Cuttack city depend on Mahanadi river water and they are already facing water problems. The government has not made any capacity enhancement of the river water resources,' he said.

More then 400 activists also carried out a motorcycle rally in the city, 26 km from Bhubaneswar, before gathering at city's Jobra area near the Mahanadi river bank where a protest meeting was held under the banner of 'Mahanadi Bancho Committee'.

Leaders of several other political parties, eminent citizens, women leaders and social activists also participated in the demonstration, Pradhan said.

The Mahanadi river flows through Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand.