The discussion on the Mahanadi water row issue which continued for two days virtually yielded no results as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said opposition parties are shedding crocodile tears on the issue and reiterated that his Government would leave no stone unturned to protect the State’s interest.
“I assure the august House that my Government will leave no stone unturned to protect the interests of the 4.5 crore people of Odisha. We are taking action on administrative and legal fronts to protect our rights and ensure justice to our people,” the Chief Minister said in his reply after the discussion.
Stating that 65 per cent of the State’s population depends on the Mahanadi for drinking water, irrigation, power generation and fisheries, he said construction of barrages by the Chhattisgarh Government would also seriously jeopardise the fragile eco-systems of Satkosia, Bhitarkanika and Chilika etc.
He said his proposal for stopping of barrage construction was not accepted by the Chhattisgarh Government and Union Minister Uma Bharti at the tripartite meeting held in New Delhi on September 17 last.
“I have had discussion with a cross-section of society and got their opinions. A large number of people, NGOs and many political parties came forward and gave their valuable suggestions,” Patnaik said.
Commenting on the all-party meeting called by leader of the Opposition, Patnaik said it exposed inherent contradictions between the two major national parties, Congress and BJP, which were not only obvious in the meeting but also immediately after. The meeting did not have the sanction of their leadership, the Chief Minister said.
He further said the issue of Mahanadi had been created by the then UPA Government at the Centre and the BJP Government in Chhattisgarh. The UPA Government failed to discharge its federal responsibility as enshrined in the Constitution causing great injustice to the people of Odisha.
Chhattisgarh has prepared a master plan for utilising almost 120 per cent of the utilisable water available from their catchment. These plans of Chhattisgarh would seriously impact the Mahanadi basin, Patnaik apprehended.
However, the present NDA Government for obvious political reasons is blatantly taking sides with the BJP-led Chhattisgarh Government, he alleged further.
He said his Government has rejected a proposal for constitution of an Expert Committee to look into the Mahanadi issue without instructing Chhattisgarh to stop construction.
He said the discussions held in the Assembly highlighted the impact of Chhattisgarh’s unilateral action and the CWC’s improper decision in not safeguarding the interests of co-basin State Odisha in an inter-State river water issue.
Dissatisfied over Chief Minister’s reply, members of both the opposition parties, Congress and BJP, walked out of the House in protest.