BHUBANESWAR: Members cutting across party lines on Monday demanded scrapping of the MoU for the Sindol project even as Speaker Pradeep Amat suggested setting up of a House Committee to gauge public opinion on the project with the Government readily agreeing to it. The Speaker’s intervention followed after the Government claimed there would be no submergence while Opposition members said a large number of villages in four Western Orissa districts would be under water due to the project. Sensing the mood, the Speaker said a House Committee be set up to assess people’s response by visiting the areas likely to be submerged by the project. He asked the Government to suspend all project-related activities till the committee submits its report and bring a proposal for forming the committee by the end of this session. The Government immediately agreed to the directive from the Speaker. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty said the Government will bring a proposal within the session. The committee will be advised to submit its report within a month, he said. The issue cropped up during discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion notice. BJP Legislature Party leader K V Singhdeo questioned the legality of the MoU for the project. Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, however, parried persistent queries by Singhdeo. His question whether the 1995 gazette notification on the project was still in force evoked no response from the Minister. Former minister Padmanabha Behera (BJD) also strongly objected to the project. He said the Government signed the MoU without taking the MLAs of that region into confidence. Initiating the discussion, Naba Kishore Das (Cong) alleged that the project is a conspiracy against the people of Western Orissa to favour some industrialists. He demanded an all-party resolution in the House for scrapping the project. Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh criticised the ‘double standard’ of the Government. “On the one hand, you go to the Supreme Court against the Polavaram project to prevent submergence of some villages, but want villages to be washed away for the Sindol project,” he said. Prasad Harichandan (Cong) alleged that the Government is creating a mental divide between the people of Western and Coastal Orissa by reviving the project. He wondered why it wants to go ahead without even a detailed project report. There is an impression among the people that Sindol project is being proposed to save Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in case Hirakud dam breaks, he said. His party colleague Santosh Singh Saluja said the project has revived the demand for separate Koshal State. Jaynarayan Mishra (BJP) said the Sindol project is the manifestation of internal bickering in the BJD. Minister Nayak, however, claimed there would be no submergence. Less than two families will be displaced for all three stages of the project, he said.
Comments
0 comment