Increase in Polavaram water discharge capacity violates tribunal: Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar:  The water discharge capacity of Polavaram dam has been raised to 50 lakh cusec from 36 lakh cusec, which is in violation of the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal - 1980, Odisha government had stated in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court.

While Odisha along with 5 other states had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court earlier, Centre submitted its affidavit before the apex court today.

The Odisha government also has also presented its stand before the apex court and urged for cancellation of the old environment clearances and sought new permits.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 11.

It may be mentioned here that the Supreme Court, on February 15, had asked the secretaries of the Water Resources Department of several states, including Odisha and Telangana, to file "specific affidavits" stating they were bound by the 1980 award of Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal which had adjudicated the river water utilisation dispute among the basin states of Godavari and Krishna.

On November 28, 2017, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him not to allow construction of the Polavaram dam until all the issues being adjudicated by the top court are settled.