BHUBANESWAR: The Chhattisgarh government’s move to open 20 of the 66 gates of Kalma barrage releasing water to the Mahanadi river system ahead of the visit of Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal team to Odisha has led to clamour that the neighbouring state is trying to prove Odisha is getting a fair share of water during non-monsoon period.
Confirming the report of release of water by the neighbouring state, Engineer-in-Chief of Water Resources department Bhakta Mohanty told media persons that Chhattisgarh had opened 17 gates of Kalma barrage on Tuesday and three more on Wednesday. There is no noticeable increase in the water level in Hirakud dam. The sudden release of water from Kalma barrage ahead of the visit of the tribunal team and without any intimation to Odisha has created suspicion about the motive of Chhattigarh government.
Though the state government has written to Chhattisgarh on many occasions expressing concern over a drop in the water flow in non-monsoon season, the neighbouring state had never bothered to respond.
This sudden change of mind of Chhattisgarh is certainly with a design to prove Odisha wrong, Mohanty added.
A team of the tribunal, assisted by technical teams from the two warring states, had undertaken a five-day visit to Chhattisgarh from April 17 to 21 in the first phase. In the second leg, the tribunal members are scheduled to visit Odisha from April 29 to May 3. The chief engineer of Hirakud dam expressed his inability to tell about the exact inflow of water in the absence of any information from Kalma barrage authorities.