Bhubaneswar: Ahead of its ‘Mahanadi Mahasangram’ or ‘Save Mahanadi’ campaign scheduled to be flagged off by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from Sukhasoda village in Lakhanpur block of Jharsuguda May 16, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Sunday released books and leaflets detailing the activities during 15-day-long campaign to create awareness among the people regarding the alleged conspiracy of BJP government in Chhattisgarh.
The ruling dispensation, in its 20-page book on Mahanadi that was launched by the party leaders – Pratap Jena, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Debi Mishra, Sanjay Das Burma and Bijay Nayak – at the party headquarters here, alleged that the barrages constructed by the Chhattisgarh government in the upstream of the river ‘unilaterally’ aim at supplying water to industrial bodies.
The BJD leaders questioned the motive behind the Chhattisgarh government’s move to construct five major barrages at Saradihi, Kalma, Meroni, Seerinarayan and Basantpur in the river upstream spending over Rs 1,200 crore, as according to them, these projects do not have the potential to irrigate even 2000 hectares.
“The main motive behind such unilateral construction is to facilitate water to industrial units, especially the thermal power plants. This is a conspiracy against farmers of Odisha as well as Chhattisgarh. Ironically, the Centre has remained a mute spectator on the entire issue,” said Nayak. “Farmers of 22 villages of Chhattisgarh in the river upstream will join us in the protest,” he added.
Jena said that this will be the second phase of BJD’s campaign on the issued. As per the schedule the Chief Minister will arrive at the Sukhasoda village at 9am to launch the campaign and address a rally. Following this, he will visit Chikhali in Bargarh to flag-off the campaign there and address another gathering.
The programme will continue for 15 days and over 15 districts including Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Boudh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Khurda, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Puri, and Jagatsinghpur covering 1,560 kms. The party plans to reach out to villagers in these districts to distribute the leaflets and books. It will also organise rallies and cultural programmes highlighting the arbitrary construction of barrages by Chhattisgarh government in Mahanadi upstream, which has severely affected flow of the river water into Odisha, said Das Burma.
The party will also offer prayers at religious places and organise ‘Jal alati’ at Sambalpur and Cuttack.
Campaign politically motivated: Oppn
Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress and BJP Sunday criticised the BJD for its ‘Save Mahanadi’ programme, dubbing it as ‘politically motivated.’ Attending an all-party meeting convened by Mahanadi Bachao Andolan outfit here, Congress and BJP leaders said that the BJD’s agitation plan will only create political differences and is not meant to resolve the ongoing war between Odisha and Chattishgarh over sharing Mahanadi water. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said the agitation will hardly help to resolve the dispute. “Parties may resort to agitations for political interests and electoral gains, but the actual solution lies in taking up the matter with the Prime Minister and urging his immediate intervention into the matter.” Similarly, BJP leader Biswabhushan Harichandan said instead of taking a protest route, the BJD should work towards fighting the case strongly in the Tribunal set up to resolve the dispute. “The agitation is only an attempt to befool people ahead of 2019 elections,” he said. Contradicting this, BJD leader Debi Mishra said that his party’s aim is to create awareness among people about the arbitrary work of Chhattisgarh government. He said that all parties should unite in the fight against such unilateral construction of projects on Mahanadi.