Mahanadi water dispute: Protest against Ch’garh today

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Bhubaneswar: Agitators from the State have given a call for a ‘Jal Satyagraha’ Wednesday to protest against the Chhattisgarh Government obstructing the flow of Mahanadi water into Odisha.
The call comes amid the growing tension between the two states over the Mahanadi waters.
The decision to organise the ‘Jal Satyagraha’ was taken at a State-Level Intelligentsia Symposium held Tuesday. As a part of the agitation, the protestors will also block the National Highway at Kanaktura near Odisha-Chhattisgarh border in Jharsuguda district.
Speaking on the matter, Mahanadi Banchao leader Sudarsan Das said, “We will be organising a ‘Jal Satyagraha’ from 9 am till 5 pm to protest against the injustice being done to Odisha by Chhattisgarh Government. As a part of our protest, we will block the national highway at Kanaktura in Lakhanpur block of Jharsuguda district bordering Chhattisgarh.”
The State Level Intelligentsia Meeting was also attended by the well known and renowned water conservationist Rajendra Singh, who has been championing the cause of Odisha in its ongoing water-sharing dispute with Chhattisgarh. Singh is also called ‘Waterman’ for his social work in the field of water conservation.
Earlier, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had launched a rally christened ‘Mahanadi Surakhya Abhijan’ to make people of the state aware of the dispute with the neighbouring BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi water-sharing issue. The rally passed through 15 districts and culminated at Paradip in 15 days.
During the fortnight-long campaign, public meetings and cultural programmes were organised in villages and towns on the routes of the rally to make people aware of the conspiracy hatched by the Chhattisgarh Government to dry up Mahanadi river in Odisha.
The Odisha Government had moved the Supreme Court in December, 2016, seeking an order asking Chhattisgarh to stop its construction work on the upstream of Mahanadi, saying it had affected the river flow in the State. It had also pitched for setting up of a Tribunal to resolve the issue.
Following the Supreme Court directive to the Centre, the Union Cabinet approved setting up of a tribunal to resolve the dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on sharing of Mahanadi river water.