Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday informed the State Assembly that the State Government has filed an Original suit in the Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the Chhattisgarh Government from continuing with the construction of the ongoing projects and from taking up new projects upstream river Mahanadi.
In a statement, Patnaik said the suit has been filed under Article 131 of the Constitution on December 2.
He said his Government has claimed an equitable share of a minimum flow of 12.28 million acre feet of Mahanadi water at the Hirakud Dam as per the DPR of the Hirakud project of 1947 and a further utilisation of 3.67 million acre feet in the surplus flows.
Stating that the Mahanadi is the lifeline of Odisha and its people and has historically been the source of food bowl of the State as well as the ecological hotspots in the delta region, Patnaik said the illegal actions of Chhattisgarh Government in unilaterally planning and constructing projects and barrages in the upper catchment of the river would spell socioeconomic and ecological hazards to Odisha and its inhabitants.
He also reminded the House of a statutory complaint filed before the Union Government on November 22 for constitution of an Inter-State Tribunal to adjudicate the water disputes arising from unilaterally planned utilisation of 27.48 million acre feet of Mahanadi water by Chhattisgarh as against a total availability of minimum flow in the river of 20.61 million acre feet only.
He assured the House that his Government would leave no stone unturned to protect the rights of the people of the State in the Mahanadi issue.