BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Thursday drew flak from the Opposition BJP and Congress as the tenure of Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal will be over on March 12 without Odisha getting any benefit out of it. Official sources, however, maintained that as per the provisions of Inter-state River Water Disputes Act-1956, the tribunal’s term is likely to be extended by two years.
Launching a scathing attack on the government over the delay in resolving the long standing dispute with Chhattisgarh, BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra alleged that the issue is being used for political gains. Stating that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has remained silent over the issue, Mishra said he is using the issue to garner votes. Even after 19 hearings, the government has failed to finalise the common information format. Odisha has failed to get any significant benefits from the panel, he added.
The Congress also criticised the government alleging that the tribunal failed to make any significant progress to resolve the dispute. “The tribunal will turn three on Friday, but Odisha has not yet got any significant benefit from it. This is a complete failure of the State government,” Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said.
The ruling BJD, however, said the issue should not be politicised by the Opposition to settle political scores. “The tribunal is acting according to the process. We are yet to get the interim stay order on construction by Chhattisgarh on the upstream of the river which we had demanded earlier. Rather than politicising the matter, the opposition should tell us where we failed in resolving the issue,” he said. Odisha and Chhattisgarh are on loggerheads as the government has objected to construction of barrages on the upstream of the river by the latter which dried up flow of water to the Hirakud dam during summer season.