Sindol fate tied to people: The Telegraph

Following news is taken from http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110823/jsp/orissa/story_14411455.jsp

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: The state government today announced that it would not go ahead with the proposed Sindol hydro-power project in western Orissa if the local people continued to oppose it.

The government’s decision comes amidst growing public outcry against the proposed project.

“The government will not go ahead with the project without taking the people into confidence. If people say they are against the project, we will not implement it,” said energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.

Speaker of the Assembly Pradip Amat also directed the government to constitute a House Committee to look into the contentious issue. “The government should not go ahead with the project till the House Committee submits its report on the proposed Sindol project,” Amat said.

Amat’s direction came in the wake of the MLAs cutting across party lines demanding that work for the project should be stalled and a House Committee be constituted to examine the issue.

Parliamentary affairs minister Raghunath Mohanty said the House Committee would be constituted before the end of the ongoing monsoon session.

However, the Congress and BJP staged a walkout as the minister did not declare on the floor of the House that the project would never be taken up in the future. Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh said: “Taking the stiff opposition to the project into account, the government should instantly announce that the project would never be taken up. It should give a specific reply to the questions raised by the Opposition and not dilute the issue.”

In the first week of August, the state government had announced to hold hearings in the area to elicit public opinion on the project.

The proposal to have the 320MW power project in the Mahanadi river basin, for which the government had signed an MoU with the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) on July 21, 2011, had met with resistance from all quarters.

Raising this issue through an adjournment motion on the floor of the Assembly, Opposition chief whip Prasad Harichandan said: “The government is planning to set up the project at the behest of a few industrial houses. Without making a detailed project report, the state government should not have signed the MoU with the NHPC. A number of villages will be submerged if the project comes up.”

Demanding immediate stoppage of work, Biju Janata Dal member Padmanabha Behera said public opinion was totally against the project. “We have already voiced our concerns over it before the chief minister. The government has assured to stall the project if the people continue to oppose it,” he said.