By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 3, 2018: In a major setback to Odisha, a three-member bench the Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Naveen Patnaik led government’s plea to stop the ongoing work on the controversial Polavaram dam on Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.

The Supreme Court also directed the Centre to ask Odisha and Chhattisgarh to submit complete details about the exact areas which would be submerged due to the Polavaram project.

The public hearing can only be conducted in these two states only after the top Court it received information about the total number of people to be affected by the proposed project along with compensation and rehabilitation of the affected people.

Union government on Saturday pulled out from carrying out public hearing in Odisha and Chhattisgarh on the controversial Polavarm project. The Centre on Saturday filed a petition seeking apologies and informed the Apex Court that it had mistakenly given its approval for carrying out public hearing by employing special agencies.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Centre to submit terms and conditions for public hearing in both the states by December 1.

The court posted the next hearing of the case to first week of January.