Bhubaneswar, Aug 6: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the main opposition party in Odisha, has decided to send a team to assess the impact of the under-construction Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh on neighboring areas in Odisha.

The BJD team, led by Atanu Sabyasachi Naik, will include Devi Prasad Mishra, Pradeep Majhi, Bhrigu Baxipatra, and BJD leaders from Malkangiri. They will visit the Polavaram project and its surrounding areas, and submit a report to BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik.

Reports suggest that the Polavaram project by the Andhra Pradesh government may bring hardship to people in various districts of Odisha, particularly Malkangiri. Odisha is expected to suffer significant losses from this project without gaining any benefits, prompting the state to oppose the project since its inception.

Chhattisgarh has also opposed the Polavaram project. Despite former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s proposal to compensate the affected inhabitants of Odisha, the then Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy claimed that the project would not harm Odisha’s people. However, as Naveen persisted in his claims, the conflict escalated. After 2010, the governments of Odisha and Chhattisgarh filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court on the issue.

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