Bhubaneswar: A day after Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari blamed previous BJD Government for the delay in resolution of Mahanadi water dispute, principal Opposition BJD today urged the BJP Government to resolve the dispute as it has a triple engine government at State, Chhattisgarh and the Centre.
Shri Pujari had alleged that the previous government (BJD government) did not pursue any option seriously to resolve it. He had also stated that the previous BJD government neither held any meeting with the Chhattisgarh government in the last 24 years nor took it up to the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Terming the statement of Pujari as unfortunate and misleading, Pratap Deb said the BJP had claimed that the development will be doubled after formation of a double engine government in Odisha.
“Now the BJP has a triple engine government at Odisha, Chhattisgarh and the Centre. So, without taking any plea, the State Government should resolve the inter-state water dispute,” he said.
Similarly, BJD Senior Vice-President Debi Prasad Mishra said then chief minister Naveen Patnaik had also drawn the attention of the Central authorities towards illegal construction of barrages over Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh government.
“Naveen had taken up the issue in a meeting chaired by the Union Water Resources Minister in 2016. He had sought the Centre’s intervention to stop Chhattisgarh government from the illegal activities as Odisha heavily depended on Mahanadi to meet its water needs. But the Central government of BJP did not take any steps as Chhattisgarh was also ruled by the same party,” said the BJD leader.
Unable to get justice from the Centre, the Odisha government moved to the Supreme Court for the constitution of Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal. Now, hearings are going on in the tribunal, which has extended tenure till 2026. The State Government had presented all its claims before the tribunal, the ex-Minister added.