Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJD Friday attacked Odisha’s BJP government, accusing it of lacking a clear strategy to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute, allowing Chhattisgarh to construct more dams and barrages to obstruct free flow of water in the inter-state river.
The allegations were made at a press conference here by Deputy Opposition leader in the Odisha Assembly Prasanna Acharya, BJD’s senior vice president Debi Prasad Mishra and MLA Niranjan Pujari.
“As the BJP-led state government has failed to take proper steps to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute, Chhattisgarh has constructed several check dams and barrages over the last 19 months,” alleged Mishra.
While the people of Odisha are struggling desperately to get water from the Mahanadi for their daily use, Chhattisgarh is “illegally” blocking flow of water and selling it to industrial establishments, he claimed.
Mishra alleged that the state’s BJP government has no clear stand on resolving the dispute and is caught in a state of confusion. Initially, it was said that a solution would be found through mutual discussion, but no progress was made in that direction, he pointed out.
He alleged that the government has failed to write a letter within the stipulated time to extend the tribunal’s tenure, for which the tribunal reprimanded the government.
Acharya claimed that after coming to power in the state, instead of finding a solution to the Mahanadi water dispute, the BJP government has further complicated the situation.
He said that during the previous BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik, efforts were initially made to resolve the issue through mutual discussion between the two states under the mediation of the central government. However, due to non-cooperation by the Chhattisgarh and the central governments, the dispute could not be resolved.
Subsequently, the then Odisha government approached the Supreme Court, and on its directions, a tribunal was constituted in 2018.
“Looking at India’s history, there is no precedent of inter-state water disputes ever being resolved through mutual discussion. Patnaik has demanded that the state government clarify its stand on the Mahanadi water dispute. Neither through mutual discussion nor through the tribunal route has the state government moved even an inch towards resolving the issue,” Acharya said.
He said the ministerial-level committee constituted by the state government has held only two meetings among its own members.
“Although it was decided that meetings would be held with all political parties and stakeholders along with this committee, these meetings were cancelled at the last moment,” Acharya said.
He alleged that Chhattisgarh was unwilling to listen to the Odisha government and the Centre has become a silent spectator. “The BJP state government lacks the courage to raise its voice against the Centre.”
He demanded clarification from the state government on the Mahanadi dispute.
BJD MLA Niranjan Pujari said that as he was nominated as a member of the ministerial-level committee, “I attended the two meetings that were held. In the second meeting, it was decided that an all-party and stakeholders’ meeting would be held on January 23. However, this meeting was cancelled at the last moment for unspecified reasons.”
Pujari said that it was also decided that a ministerial-level delegation would visit Chhattisgarh on January 31 to hold talks with their ministerial-level delegation, but this visit was also cancelled.
“Despite the presence of triple-engine governments in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and at the Centre, there is no hope that the issue could be resolved soon,” he said.
PTI
