Bhubaneswar: The Mahanadi Banchao Andolan (MBA) staged a human chain protest Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha, demanding a resolution to the long-pending Mahanadi water dispute and seeking concrete intervention from the Centre.
Raising the slogan, “Odisha Demands Answers,” members of the movement posed five key questions to the Prime Minister on the Mahanadi issue. They sought clarity on whether the Mahanadi, regarded as Odisha’s lifeline, would be protected; when the inter-state water dispute would be resolved; whether the gates of the Kalma Barrage in Chhattisgarh would be opened; whether the expenditure incurred on the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal would be probed; and whether allegedly illegal river projects in Chhattisgarh would be declared invalid.
MBA convenor Sudarshan Das said the people of Odisha had high expectations from the “triple-engine government” to resolve the dispute but were still awaiting a concrete solution. He alleged that despite repeated assurances of dialogue, no tangible progress had been made and claimed that inadequate water was being released into the Mahanadi and the Hirakud reservoir during the summer months.
Several political leaders, environmentalists and civil society activists joined the protest, demanding immediate intervention by the Centre to protect Odisha’s water interests and secure a lasting resolution to the dispute with Chhattisgarh.