Large water projects create land acquisition, displacement, livelihood and community-infrastructure issues. Section 90 specifically mentions rehabilitation and resettlement norms among the clearances or obligations the Central Government must obtain for Polavaram. This makes R&R part of the legal story, not an optional welfare appendix. Project progress should therefore be reported in parallel tracks: physical construction, land and forest clearances, and rehabilitation of affected people.

A budget release for a dam component does not establish that every affected household has received a plot, house or livelihood support. Nor does a list of eligible families prove completed resettlement. Examine survey, entitlement, award, payment, relocation and post-move service records. A reservoir's planned full level is not evidence that people can safely move into a site without water, school and road access. For exam questions, remember the legal words “environmental,” “forests” and “rehabilitation and resettlement” in Section 90. For current status, use dated project-authority reports.

Worked example: A household is listed as affected by Polavaram but has not yet occupied a resettlement site. Acquisition notification, entitlement assessment, payment, relocation and restored livelihood are different stages. Section 90's project status does not replace the applicable rehabilitation rules. A good answer asks which stage the evidence proves and does not count a sanctioned colony as a completed household move.

Active recall: Which three broad clearance or compliance areas are stated in Section 90(4)? How would you verify completed R&R?