The 12-member BJD team led by Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya on Wednesday expressed deep concern that water flow in the downstream of the Mahanadi would decease drastically during non-monsoon season if the proposed barrage projects come up in the river’s upstream area in Chhattisgarh.
‘We held discussions with engineers and officers of the Water Resources Department of the Chhattisgarh Government regarding construction of barrages and their implications for Odisha. We informed them that water flow in downstream of the Mahanadi will decrease if barrages are constructed in the upstream area,” Acharya told reporters at Bilaspur after the meeting.
He also reiterated his allegation that water is being supplied to industries rather than to cultivable lands in Chhattisgarh. He said the team would give its report to the Odisha Government soon.
However, Chhattisgarh Water Resources Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) HR Kuttari asserted that there would be no impact on Odisha if barrages are constructed in the upper reaches of the Mahanadi.
“During monsoon season, the volume of water released by Chhattisgarh from upper Mahanadi is about 5-6 times the capacity of the Hirakud Dam,” he said.
Asked about the dispute between the two States over sharing of Mahanadi water, he said there would be no dispute once a Joint Control Board is formed.
On the Kelo dam project, Kuttari said the Chhattisgarh Government had given a detailed project report (DPR) to Odisha before the construction of the dam.
After the meeting, the BJD fact-finding team visited other barrages in the day. On the first day of its visit, the team had visited Kelo dam, Seorinarayan barrage and Arpa-Bhaisajhar barrage.
In another development, like Tuesday, activists of the Ajit Jogi-led Janata Congress on Wednesday protested the visit of the BJD team. The activists staged protests in front of the hotel where the team members were staying. As many as 40 activists were detained by police, sources said.
Protests were also staged at Mulumula, Akaltara, Janchgir, Chapa and Ratanpur in Chhattisgarh. The BJD team had to change its route for visiting the project areas due to the protests, the sources added.