launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not responding to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s letter for an amicable solution to the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh, the ruling BJD on Thursday advised Patnaik to take legal course to protect the interest of the State.
“The BJD has proposed the State Government and the Chief Minister to take legal course may it be Supreme Court or NGT to protect State’s interest in the matter,” party spokesperson Surjya Narayan Patro told reporters here.
In protest against the silence of the PM and also in an apparent bid to win the hearts of the people ahead of the rural polls, the party would launch a signature campaign at Panchayat level to collect signatures of at least one person from 86 lakh families of the State. The signatures would be sent to the President, said Patro.
Besides, a human chain would also be formed from Hirakud where the Mahanadi river enters Odisha to Paradip where it falls in the Bay of Bengal covering 15 districts. “The date for the human chain would be decided at a meeting to be held on November 7,” said Patro.
Party vice-president and Rajya Sabha Member Prasanna Acharya alleged that the Centre is directly or indirectly cooperating with Chhattisgarh in expediting the projects on upstream Mahanadi.
“Chief Minister had written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in the matter. But no response has been received yet. It is not fair in a federal structure,” said Acharya.