Sambalpur: The inter-state campaigners of “Mahanadi Suraksha Yatra” reached here Wednesday. The campaign, started December 19 from Lara in Chhattisgarh, will end in Cuttack December 23. It is aimed at protecting Mahanadi with maximum participation of its stakeholders.
Briefing media persons Wednesday, its convenor committee head Prafulla Samantrai said the Union government should constitute a ‘special tribunal’ to settle the Mahanadi water dispute between Orissa and Chhattisgarh, as it cannot be settled mutually by any ‘understanding committee’.
He condemned the silence adopted by the Union government regarding the issue and demanded it to break the inexplicable silence and act resolutely to settle the dispute.
Samantrai said the total water flowing capacity of Mahanadi at Sahdol in Chhattisgarh has been officially assessed at 1528 billion cubic metres per annum but the Chhattisgarh government has already signed agreements with industries in the state to sell more than that quantity of water.
He said more than one crore people in 16 districts of Orissa used to depend on Mahanadi for their livelihood and its water used to irrigate about 2.67 lakh hectares of rabi and kharif crops in the state. It’s time the trend restored, he added.
Samantrai alleged the agriculture sector is utterly neglected in Orissa as the state government is providing about 500 cusecs of water from Hirakud reservoir to industries in Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts, whereas the same water could irrigate 5,000 acres of cultivable land.
He further alleged the emerging situation is responsible for gross water pollution in Hirakud reservoir that resulted in the extinction of 140 varieties of fish out of 183 species that thrived there.
Samantrai alleged water pollution in the reservoir has brought down the present fish production to 150 tonnes from 332.8 tonnes in 1990-91. The steep fall has adversely affected the livelihood of 10,000 fishermen.
Speaking about their 10-point charter of demands, Samantrai said there should be separate boards for each river and the increasing number of disputes among states should be settled by setting up a national commission on water
He called for a national water policy to ensure drinking water for common man and all living creatures, irrigation for three crops annually besides rural industries and people’s right to water.
He added that the Union government should guarantee proper share for Orissa in Mahanadi water not only during the rainy season but also throughout the year. The activist demanded that the water marketing policy of the government must be terminated immediately and it should be ensured that water cannot be marketed as a commodity. Instead, the government should protect and conserve water.
Samantrai condemned the divisive policy based on water, as it is being promoted by different governments, and demanded to keep river water above narrow considerations.
Samantrai was supported by other leaders like Ashok Pradhan, Antarjyami Mishra, Brajakishor Tripathy, Sisir Bhoi, Anant Panda and Sudarshan Sundarrai at the press meet. PNN