BJD members walk out of LS over Polavaram dam

NEW DELHI: BJD members staged a walkout from Lok Sabha on Monday to protest against the "unilateral'' decision to raise the height of the Polavaram project that will adversely affect thousands of tribals in four districts of Odisha.

"Four districts (of Odisha) will be inundated. The decision to raise the height of (Polavaram) dam was a one-sided decision which was taken unilaterally," BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said during zero hour.

He said Odisha government has "pleaded before the Supreme Court on this and the matter is still pending before it. Therefore, no decision should be taken by this House or Parliament on this issue to trample on the rights of tribals".

Observing that the four Odisha districts were observing a strike against the Polavaram project, Mahtab accused the UPA and the previous Andhra Pradesh government of taking a "unilateral" decision to raise the dam's height. As he spoke, his party MPs stood in the aisle and walked out as soon as Mahtab ended his speech.

Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project has been accorded national project status by the Centre. The dam across the Godavari river is under construction and straddles West Godavari district and East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, with its reservoir spreading to parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha also.

http://ift.tt/1y6PiYD project,Polavaram dam,Odisha government,BJD