BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government will soon approach the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) against Chhattisgarh for projects undertaken by it on the upstream of Mahanadi river.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb informed this while reacting to a statement from Water Resources Minister of Chhattisgarh Brij Mohan Agrawal that Odisha Government is not interested to solve the Mahanadi river water dispute.
Deb said the State Government will soon move the Supreme Court requesting it to constitute a tribunal to resolve the dispute. The BJD leader said the State Government will also approach the NGT over environmental impact of the projects constructed by Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi upper basin because of the reduced flow during non-monsoon period.
“We will give details about the projects and their adverse environmental impact,” Deb said.
Stating that Odisha Government will not succeed if it resorts to legal way as it does not have the documents to counter the stand of Chhattisgarh Government, Agrawal said the dispute between the two States can be resolved only through talks.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, after the tripartite talks on September 17 with his Chhattisgarh counterpart at New Delhi Raman Singh failed, had announced in the Assembly that the Government will explore legal and other options to protect the interest of the State. However, the CM wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30 seeking his intervention to resolve the dispute.
The BJD leader said the State Government would appeal before the NGT about the environmental impacts of the projects being undertaken by the Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi upper basin.
Meanwhile, Leader of opposition Narasingh Mishra also criticised the Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister for his statement. “The statement of the Minister is deplorable,” he said.
“It is true that the CM is not interested to resolve the issue. We have all information and will take legal steps at the appropriate time,” Mishra said. A delegation of the Congress Legislature Party led by Mishra had submitted a memorandum to President at New Delhi on October 14 seeking his intervention to resolve the issue.