The 12-member BJD delegation scheduled to visit the controversial project sites on the Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh has sought cooperation of officials of the neighbouring State during its spot assessment, but is yet to receive any reply.
Addressing a Press meet after the first meeting of the newly-formed delegation here on Saturday, BJD leader and MP Prasanna Achrya, who is the head of the panel, said the team has set August 7 and 8 as the tentative dates to visit Chhattisgarh.
“But our visit will be finalised subject to their (the Chhattisgarh Government’s) confirmation as we have not received any reply from them till now. We are eagerly waiting for their consent,” Acharya said.
The team will visit the neighbouring State in two phases, said Pratap Keshari Deb, one of its members. “In the first phase, we have planned to visit the Kelo and Arpa-Bhaisajhar project sites along with seven other projects. We want their EIC, Chief Engineer, Superintending Engineer or other project officials to remain present and discuss with us. In second phase, we will visit the Pairi-Mahanadi intra-State link project proposed by Chhattisgarh, which is on an another route,” Deb said.
The team of the ruling party of Odisha also includes Finance Minister Pradip Amat, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra, Food Supplies Minister Sanjay Dasburma, Rohit Pujari, Kishore Mohanty, Sushant Singh, Padmanabh Behera, Pramila Mallik and Raseswari Panigrahi.
The committee would prepare a comprehensive report after assessing the ground realities at the project sites and submit it to the Chief Minister.
On the other hand, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticised Prasanna Acharya for his move on the Mahanadi issue and dubbed him as a ‘college-level politician’.