New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today said a consensus among the four stakeholder states is necessary before going ahead with the Polavaram irrigation project.
Rao, who is in Delhi, said he has raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Mostly tribals from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be affected. I requested the Prime Minister to convene a meeting of the four chief ministers. I urged him to coordinate (the meeting) himself so that a consensus can be evolved. He said he will look into it. I think he will do it,” Rao told reporters here.
He said his party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, will oppose the Polavaram ordinance when it comes to Parliament to be converted into a bill. “We will oppose it,” he said.
He said there can be alternatives to submerging land of the people.
Last month the government had promulgated an ordinance merging some villages and mandals of Telangana into Seemandhra in a bid to deal with resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced by the Polavaram project.
The ordinance aims to facilitate smooth resettlement and rehabilitation on part of the multi-purpose project which will help in irrigation and power generation.