BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Janata Dal has put on hold its plan to organise a mega human chain to protest against the Chhattisgarh government's construction activities on the upper catchment of the Mahanadi river.
The decision has been taken after the state government moved the Supreme Court on December 3 seeking an injunction against the Chhattisgarh government from continuing with the construction of on-going projects and taking up future projects on the upstream stretch of the Mahanadi river.
Talking to mediapersons, BJD spokesperson Sashibhusan Behera said the party may go for an agitation in the future over the issue to protect the interest of Odisha.
"We moved the Supreme Court after our demands were ignored. Human chain or something else can be organised in a complete non-violent manner at a later stage. An agitation may be launched in future
as the Mahanadi issue is associated with the life of people and progress of Odisha," Behera said.
The BJD announced on October 28 that it will organise a 550 kilometer long human chain from Hirakud to Paradip to put pressure on the Centre to ask the Chhattisgarh government to stop the construction of baragges and dams on the upper catchment of Mahanadi river.
The BJD had also announced that it will launch a signature campaign and collect signatures of at least one person from each of the 87 lakh families to pressure the Centre as well as
Chhattisgarh government.
The Odisha government had filed an original suit in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution seeking injunction against the Chhattisgarh government. Announcing this in the Assembly, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said that the State government has claimed as part of its equitable share of a minimum flow of 12.28 million acre feet of the Mahanadi water at Hirakud Dam as per the DPR of Hirakud project of 1947 and a further utilisation of 3.67 million acre feet in surplus flows.