Even after reports that one more gate of the Kalma barrage has reopened, the war of words between Odisha and Chhattisgarh continued unabated on Tuesday.
Earlier, agreeing to the demands of the Odisha Government, Chhattisgarh on Monday opened one more gate of the barrage, informed an official of the Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department.
However, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh did not seem to be in a mood for entertaining any claim of Odisha and threw the ball into Odisha’s court, saying, “It is not a fight between the States. The decision on how much water each State will get is decided by the CWC, not us or Odisha. If anyone has any problem, they must approach the CWC. Chhattisgarh has constructed all small and big dams with the CWC’s
permission.”
“As such there is no water flow in summer. The Mahanadi has water flow for only four months in a year. It is only a sand bank throughout the rest of the year,”
said Singh.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb reacting to Singh’s statement said, “The versions of the Kalma dam Chief Engineer and the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister is contradictory. The Odisha Government will raise the issue at all platforms and seek justice.”
Union Minister Jual Oram in his reaction said the data provided by he Odisha Government are confusing. “These are ten-year-old data. For ten years, what was the Odisha Government doingIJ law will take its own course as the Mahanadi matter is sub-judice,” Oram added.
BJD MP Prasanna Acharya said, “Chhattisgarh is trying to suppress the fact that it has closed the gates of the Kalma barrage leading to reduction of water flow. It is clearly known who is misleading people.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the possible water scarcity in the Mahanadi due to closure of the Kalma barrage gate and sought his intervention in resolving the issue.