Ordinance on Polavaram escalating into a row

The promulgation of an ordinance by the Centre transferring the submergence areas of Polavaram project in Telangana – five mandals of Khammam district completely and two mandals partly – to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh is snowballing into a major controversy. Former Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the ordinance had ignited a conflict between the two States. Blaming Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the ordinance, the Congress leader pointed out that it was because of Mr. Rao’s demand for restoration of pre-1956 Telangana that the Centre had issued the ordinance. Mysoora Reddy said here on Thursday that there was nothing wrong with the Centre’s decision and pointed out that a similar issue had cropped up with regard to the Jurala project in the past and as a result, farmers whose land were submerged were yet to get compensation.