Sindol Project stirs up a hornets nest

SAMBALPUR: The Energy Minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, in a bid to smoothen ruffled feathers may have stated that the height of the proposed barrage under the Sindol Hydro Power Project would be reduced to strengthen his claim of ‘zero displacement’. It has, however, failed to pacify the people in the project area, who are up in arms against the State Government and the project. The Government first maintained that the project has been abandoned and later it went ahead without taking people into confidence, the locals alleged. Moreover, they contend that generating 320 MW of power from the project is not possible if the barrage height is reduced.  The issue has come as a shot in the arms for the Opposition with the Congress and the BJP organising meetings across the region to mobilise public opinion against the project.  The ‘Sindol Bruhat Jalabidyut Prakalpa Virodhi Kriya Anusthan Committee’ has appealed to the Government to shelve the project and convened a mass meeting at Dhama near here on Wednesday while the district BJP burnt effigy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik opposing the project as it would submerge large tracts of land.  The Sonepur District Congress Committee (SDCC) led by Ashok Pujari has also objected to the project while the former legislator  Binod Patra has threatened to launch a widespread stir and urged people not to cede their land for the project.  To take the movement a step forward, the Sonepur Youth Congress has castigated both Sonepur legislator and Minister Niranjan Pujari and Birmaharajpur legislator Padmanabh Behera for their misleading statement and silence.  They have threatened not to allow the duo into the district as they did not raise their voice against the protest. Cautioning Balangir BJD MP Kalikesh Singhdeo, they said if Singhdeo also supports the Government, his entry to Sonepur would be banned.  The situation is no different in Boudh district where senior Congress leader Kanhai Charan Dang said, if required, they would ‘shun party for Mati (soil)’. He was also critical of Kantamal MLA Bhagban Kanhar for giving sanction to the  project.  Expressing surprise at the move of Naveen, the BJP has reminded that it was Biju Patnaik himself who opposed the project when JB Patnaik had mooted it.