HYDERABAD : Political parties, barring CPI (M) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi, endorsed the present design of the Polavaram dam with a height of 150 ft at the third and final all-party meeting held here on Tuesday.

The CPI (M) and the TRS announced boycott of the meeting midway after airing their views and staged a walkout, the former seeking appointment of yet another experts committee to suggest alterative designs to avoid submersion of tribal areas and the latter a blanket GO specifying project-specific allocations to the Telangana region out of the Godavari.

CPI(M) plea

CPI(M) leaders -- B. V. Raghavulu and T. Veerabhadram -- who are already leading an agitation by tribals in the submersible area, pleaded for stoppage of the works till the experts committee submitted its report suggesting alternative designs.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy rejected the plea saying that the process was already on and that the Khammam Collector had launched a massive land acquisition programme in plain areas to benefit tribals who were to be displaced. After walking out, they announced that the agitation would continue.

CPI secretary K. Narayana fully backed the Government with the contention that no project was possible without submersion but sought proper implementation of rehabilitation and resettlement package for tribals.

Telugu Desam, BJP, Congress, Janata and CPI-ML New Democracy endorsed Polavaram, each with its own conditions. All of them, however, sought proper steps by the Government to do justice to the backward Telangana region.

In reply to the four-hour marathon discussions, Dr. Reddy and P. Lakshmaiah, Major Irrigation Minister, announced that the upcoming hydro power projects, based on Polavaram, Dummagudem, Sinagreddypalli, Pulichintala and Pranahita irrigation projects would be owned by the Irrigation Department, though to be implemented by private parties through bidding. The power generated by them would be exclusively used to run the lift schemes in Telangana and other regions.

The Chief Minister said an irrigation policy would be announced in two months indicating even village-specific allocations out of water sources in a district. He also announced inclusion of MPs, MLAs and ZP chiefs in the committees formed to oversee the implementation of the R & R package for the displaced of Polavaram.

He accepted a suggestion made by almost all parties, including Congress, that the interests of tribals must be protected at any cost and that immediate payment of compensation be ensured for the tribal lands.

The Chief Minister, however, expressed inability to implement Inchampalli now, pointing out how Chiattisgarh was not allowing the State people even to undertake survey on its side of the Godavari. He complained against some non-Telugu Desam and non-BJP leaders approaching the Central Water Commission for thwarting Polavaram but said: "the Jalayagnam will not stop, come what may."

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