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BHUBANESWAR: Criticising the statement of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi that he has held discussions with his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai to resolve the Mahanadi river water dispute, the Opposition BJD and Congress demanded concrete steps from the state government to ensure Odisha gets its rightful share.
Senior BJD leader and party MLA from Balangir, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo said talks were meaningless if not followed by action.
“It has been seven years since the dispute was taken up by the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, but there is still no sign of an early solution. We need action, not statements. The Centre should take a decision for resolution of the dispute,” he said.
The BJD MLA said, “I was in the Parliament when the Mahanadi water sharing dispute was discussed. The then minister Nitin Gadkari had refused to accept the proposal of Odisha. We forced him to refer the matter to the tribunal. In between, seven years have passed, but the tribunal is yet to come up with a solution.”
Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra also came down heavily on the chief minister for his statement.
“If the dispute could be resolved through discussion it could have been done since long. The statement of the chief minister is just a mere eyewash. He cannot resolve the dispute,” Mishra said.
Meanwhile, the Mahanadi Bachao Andolan (MBA) demanded the chief minister to make details of the talks public. Sudarsan Das, convenor of the outfit, said the tribunal was formed in 2018 following Supreme Court’s direction, but there has been no concrete result yet.
“The post of chairman of the tribunal is vacant for the last seven months. It shows how serious the Centre is to resolve the dispute,” he said.
There is a chance now to end the dispute as there is triple-engine government at Centre, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The issue can be solved if there is will, he said.