BJD and BJP leaders continued their war of words over the Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Monday.
While the BJD termed Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal’s remarks on the Kalma barrage gate closure as a usual “lie”, the BJP demanded evidence from the Odisha Government on its charge that Chhattisgarh has blocked water flow into Mahanadi downstream.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said Agrawal’s claim that no new gates of the Kalma barrage have been closed and the water flow remains as usual is not at all true.
In a sharp reaction to this, BJP MlA Pradeep Purohit said the BJD’s allegation is baseless and the BJD is now viewing all the developmental activities of Chhattisgarh as a mischief.
He said the BJP is well aware of its political responsibility towards Odisha and is working in that direction.
Similarly, taking a dig at the BJD spokesperson, BJP leader and Union Minister Jual Oram said the BJD is just beating around the bush on the Mahanadi issue. Rather than making blind claims, the State Government should produce evidence on actual water discharge, he added.
Notably reacting to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s letter to his Chhattisgarh Raman Singh on the closure of gates of the Kalma barrage, Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister had claimed that the water flow at the barrage on the Mahanadi has remained as usual. No new gates of the barrage have been closed. Odisha’s allegations on the matter are imaginary and baseless, he remarked.