BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Chhattisgarh government has adopted an aggressive stand over the Mahanadi river water dispute with Odisha, the state government is yet to take a decision on the tripartite meeting proposed by the Centre on the issue.
Official sources maintained that a decision on the date for the tripartite meeting proposed by union water resources minister Uma Bharti at New Delhi will be taken after Chhattisgarh government responded to the reminder from the Odisha government on the information sought by it.
The state government had sent a reminder to the Chhatisgarh to furnish complete information sought by it on dams and barrages constructed by it on the Mahanadi river. Chhattisgarh government has submitted a part of the information sought by the Odisha government and is yet to respond to the reminder from it.
After a delegation of Odisha BJP leaders headed by union minister Dharmendra Pradhan met the union water resources minister, she had proposed a meeting with chief ministers of both the states between
September 10 t0 20 to resolve the issue. In a letter on Saturday, the Union Water Resources ministry had also wanted the Odisha government to propose suitable dates for the meeting at New Delhi. Meanwhile, the BJD team headed by Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya which had visited Chhattisgarh to make an on the spot assessment of the situation is yet to finalise the report. "We are waiting for information from the Chhattisgarh government to finalise the report," Acharya said.
Acharya said the team had asked the Chhattisgarh government to clarify about the quantity of water available in non-monsoon season in its part of the river and how much it will release for Odisha. However, the Chhattisgarh government is yet to respond, the BJD leader said and added that the team had also sought some additional information on the Kelo dam project.
The team will submit its report to the chief minister after waiting for a response from the Chhattisgarh government for a couple of days more, he said.