Cuttack: Stating that the BJD government has been misleading the people on Mahanadi imbroglio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday squarely blamed the state government for the water dispute.
Addressing a public rally – Jana Kalyan Samabesh – here, Modi said, “The state government is not carrying out its responsibilities properly. In the state Assembly, it has admitted that more than 50 per cent of Mahanadi water is going waste into the Bay of Bengal. The Centre has tried to resolve the issue, but the Odisha government had not cooperated (with us).”
“Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari had personally written to Odisha Chief Minister for early resolution of the issue through discussion. Besides, our proposal to constitute a tribunal was also discarded,” said Modi.
Even after ruling the state for a long period, the state government has failed to ensure to provide the benefit of the Mahanadi water to the farmers and the people, he said.
He was also critical of the state government for its “failure to harness five major rivers to the advantage of Odisha.” He said the people of Odisha want to know why the Lower Indravati irrigation project, which started 20 years ago, was delayed for so long.
“Why did the state government delay various irrigation projects which escalated their costs by four to five times? Why have the farmers of Odisha been left in the lurch?” Modi asked.
However, the Centre has taken the responsibility of bringing a change in the lives of farmers by ensuring water to their farmland. The Centre has painstakingly prepared a blue print to take up such projects. The NDA government has decided to take up 99 delayed projects including eight from Odisha by spending Rs 80,000crore, he stated.
“Healthcare service is in doldrums in Odisha. The pertinent question is what has the government done in its rule for a long period? No single day passes without reading a bad news from Odisha’s tribal areas,” he said.
The state government might not be able to discharge its responsibility properly, but the Union government is taking lots of steps for the welfare of the poor, the Prime Minister said.
Wellness centres are being set up so that people can get healthcare in villages while AIIMS was set up at the capital city, he pointed out.
The medical colleges at Berhampur, Cuttack and Burla are being upgraded. Besides, IIM and IISER are being set up in Sambalpur and Berhampur respectively, he said.
However, reacting to Modi’s comments on Mahanadi, BJD spokesperson PK Deb said, “The Union Water Resources Ministry’s lawyers had objected to the formation of a tribunal at the Supreme Court. What is true and false will be decided by the people as the PM has said in his speech. They never tried to stop Chhattisgarh from building barrages on Mahanadi. Odisha is performing better than all BJP-ruled states.”
Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said, “Modi has not spoken a single word on action taken by them to resolve the dispute and did not advise Chhattisgarh government to ensure free flow of Mahanadi water. We admit, the state government has not done anything for the farmers, but what have you done for them?”
