Accusing the State Government of trying to hide its incompetence and misleading the people of Odisha, the BJP on Sunday alleged that the State Government was suppressing the letters exchanged between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on the contentious Kelo project on the upper catchments of the Mahanadi.
At a Press meet here, BJP leaders produced a compilation of the official correspondences between the two State Governments on the Kelo project. The BJP leaders pointed out that the letters were exchanged on July 14 and October 4, 2008.
“Earlier. we had produced some letters received by the Odisha Government which the BJD spokespersons had termed as fake. The State Government has been crowing that they have been kept in the dark and not informed by the Chhattisgarh Government (about its Mahanadi projects). The (then) Chief Engineer of the Odisha Irrigation Department SC Behera, while referring to the letter sent by the Chhattisgarh Government, had responded on October 4, 2008. This letter proves that the Odisha Government was totally aware about the project, and due to its incompetency it has kept the people of the State in the dark. Because of such incompetence, the people of Odisha are being deprived of their rights,” BJP State vice-president Sameer Mohanty told mediapersons .
“The State Government is trying to rake up a controversy out of the whole issue only to gain political mileage,” he further alleged.