Polavaram
Project
The project,
estimated to cost Rs.15,000 crores, is intended to bring 7.2 lakh acres under
irrigation and produce 930 mw of power. Its Left Main Canal will bring 1.5 lakh
acres under irrigation in Visakhapatnam district and 23 tmc ft of water to the
city to help meet the growing industrial and domestic needs.
In this project the cost for environmental disturbance was Rs.372 crores and it displaced 1,17,034 people in 276 villages besides submerging 37,743 ha of land – of farmland, forests and wasteland. However, with the strong political support it overcome all the bottlenecks and is in progress now. None have clear evidence that this is a socially and environmentally sustainable project, as the process was not transparent. It’s presumption is that the Godavari river has surplus flow and the water can be diverted to Krishna river so that it can be efficiently used. But, the IWMI (International Water Management Institute) challenged that the NWDA (National Water Development Authority) has falsely calculated the water in river Godavari without considering the environmental use of water which amounts for 8,200 MCM and the analysis procedure was ambiguous and at many instances there was no data available even. But, however with the strong political clout the challenges were fell on their deaf ears and the project was already given clearance and made free from all bottlenecks. In the context of the social issue in this project there were strong allegations that the Public Hearing which was quintessence of EIA was not done transparently and the real victims were not allowed to speak in such hearings using what illegal power the govt. have. The IWMI and many other NGOs working for the Polavaram project-effected victims strongly claimed that it was not a sustainable project and hence should be canceled consideration while analyzing the projects CBA. But, it was the political commitment that made a socially & environmentally nonviable project become viable, but in vein. In fact, it cannot be said as a viable project if one has taken the social & environmental aspects into consideration.
In this project the cost for environmental disturbance was Rs.372 crores and it displaced 1,17,034 people in 276 villages besides submerging 37,743 ha of land – of farmland, forests and wasteland. However, with the strong political support it overcome all the bottlenecks and is in progress now. None have clear evidence that this is a socially and environmentally sustainable project, as the process was not transparent. It’s presumption is that the Godavari river has surplus flow and the water can be diverted to Krishna river so that it can be efficiently used. But, the IWMI (International Water Management Institute) challenged that the NWDA (National Water Development Authority) has falsely calculated the water in river Godavari without considering the environmental use of water which amounts for 8,200 MCM and the analysis procedure was ambiguous and at many instances there was no data available even. But, however with the strong political clout the challenges were fell on their deaf ears and the project was already given clearance and made free from all bottlenecks. In the context of the social issue in this project there were strong allegations that the Public Hearing which was quintessence of EIA was not done transparently and the real victims were not allowed to speak in such hearings using what illegal power the govt. have. The IWMI and many other NGOs working for the Polavaram project-effected victims strongly claimed that it was not a sustainable project and hence should be canceled consideration while analyzing the projects CBA. But, it was the political commitment that made a socially & environmentally nonviable project become viable, but in vein. In fact, it cannot be said as a viable project if one has taken the social & environmental aspects into consideration.
This shows how lack of transparency, public communication results in expensive
delays and also role played by political leaders.
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