Seek public hearing by Centre: KVP to CM

Vijayawada: Former Rajya Sabha Member Dr KVP Ramachandra Rao in a letter to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Tuesday urged him to apply pressure on the Centre to complete the necessary public hearing in case of Polavaram project to facilitate speedy completion of the project as per the direction of the Supreme Court.

Referring to the Supreme Court observation that the Centre had to play a 'pioneering role' by holding 'all stakeholders meet of appropriate high level' within a month, Dr Ramachandra Rao said the AP government should not let go of the opportunity.

The Supreme Court made this observation while dealing with a petition of the Odisha government. It was unfortunate that the Centre had washed its hands of the issue and was showing negligible interest to the detriment of AP which had allowed litigation by both the Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments, he said.

The Jal Shakti ministry was planning to hold a meeting of the states on September 29 once again but it should be borne in the mind that the Centre had been convening these meetings for the 'sake of formality' while excusing itself of an active role pointing to the objections raised by the two neighbouring states, Ramachandra Rao said in his letter, adding its attitude was only helpful to the two states attempting to stall the project completion. He said the Chief Minister should remind the Centre at least now its commitment and duty to fulfil the public hearing under Section 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act.