BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday targeted BJP governments at the Centre and in Chhattisgarh for obstructing the flow of water in Mahanadi river and asked party workers to educate people about the circumstances leading to decrease in the flow of water in the Odisha side of the river.
“Mahanadi has dried up in Odisha as Chhattisgarh and Central governments have blocked the flow of its water into our State,” the Chief Minister said at the ‘Mahasammilani’ organised by the BJD on the issue here. Stating that the BJP is instrumental in depriving Odisha of its share of Mahanadi river water, the BJD president asked his party workers to go to the people and tell them about the circumstances leading to decline in the flow of water.
Countering Chhattisgarh’s claim that it is releasing Mahanadi water into Odisha, Naveen said the flow of the river has substantially come down due to construction of barrages and dams in upper catchment areas by the neighbouring State. Asserting that Odisha is committed to save the Mahanadi, he said a “Green Mahanadi” drive has been launched in order to undertake plantation of lakhs of trees on both sides of the river.
The Chief Minister also said Odisha’s request for formation of a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi issue was ignored by the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre. Though the tribunal was formed on Supreme Court’s direction, the Centre failed to extend the required cooperation, he said.
The allegation levelled by the Chief Minister was, however, refuted by the BJP as baseless. State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty described his statement as unfortunate. People are aware of the BJD’s inefficiency, Mohanty said. Naveen also unveiled a book titled “Mahanadi Pain Mahasangram”. People’s representatives of BJD from 15 districts of the Mahanadi river basin including MLAs, MPs, district presidents, district observers, head of frontal organisations, presidents of block and urban bodies and elected representatives of Zilla Parishads attended the Mahasammilani.
BJD vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Surjya Narayan Patro, Industries Minister Niranjan Pujari, government chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy, deputy government chief whip Rohit Pujari, former Speaker Kishore Kumar Mohanty, party MPs Pratap Keshari Deb, Bhatruhari Mahatab, Tathagat Satpathy, Kalikesh Singhdeo, Nagendra Pradhan, Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, former ministers Debi Prasad Mishra and Arun Kumar Sahu and general secretary Sanjay Dasburma also addressed the function.