Bhubaneswar: The war of words between ruling Biju Janata Dal and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party over the Mahanadi dispute escalated Tuesday shortly after Orissa government said Chhattisgarh had misled the state on the status of water released downstream.
The state government alleged the Mahanadi water inflow into Hirakud reservoir had depleted by a staggering 78 per cent in May.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alleged opening of one gate at Kalma barrage over river Mahanadi by Chhattisgarh officials has further worsened the conflict between the riparian states.
Earlier, Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agarwal has said the water inflow into the river downstream was low due to water scarcity. BJD MP and spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb took a dig at the Chhattisgarh government saying that opening of one more gate has exposed the “double standards of the Chhattisgarh government.” He said the state government will raise the issue at the concerned platforms and will take it to the public.
However, BJP leader and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram hit back alleging that the data provided by the government is old and the government has not conducted any survey of the water inflow properly.
He further said BJD was trying to politicise the issue and advised the state ruling party to refrain from giving it a political colour as the matter is sub-judice at the apex court.
Meanwhile, MP Prasanna Acharya (BJD), who termed Oram’s stand as ‘anti-Oriya’ said “If Oram is claiming the data to be false, he should come up with the data he has.”
The BJD leader alleged that while the Chhattisgarh government was trying to suppress facts related to Mahanadi issue, the state BJP leaders are supporting it which is ‘unfortunate’.
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