Intensifying its stir against alleged unilateral construction of barrages on Mahanadi River by the Chhattisgarh Government, the ruling BJD on Wednesday halted a number of Chhattishgarh-bound goods trains at various key locations in Odisha.
Odisha’s ruling BJD MlAs along with party workers blocked the rail tracks and demonstrated protest in front of the trains in Balasore, Berhampur, Raja Athagarh, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Rourkela and Jharsuguda stations.
The Chhattisgarh-bound goods trains were halted for about 30 minutes by BJD workers as a mark of protest against Chhattisgarh’s act of undertaking construction of barrages, dams and other projects on upstream of the Mahanadi River without consulting Odisha which is a co-basin State, BJD youth wing president and Minister Sanjay Dasburma said in Odisha while interacting with the media. "We have been demanding to stop work on all ongoing projects by the Chhattisgarh Government. The party has decided to continue their stir for 100 days if the neighbouring State does not stop anti-Odisha projects on the river," he added.
Besides Dasburma, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra, Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda and other senior leaders of the ruling party also participated in the agitation.
"Chhatisgarh prepared the masterplan of the projects without consulting Odisha as a co-basin State. On the Kelo project, the Central Water Commission had not named Odisha in its 95th meeting while the Water Resources Departments of other States were informed," Mishra said, adding the neighbouring State only consulted Odisha on Arpa-Bhainshjar project recently.
“Though Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has been claiming that the State utilises only 25 per cent of water, but in reality they took about 37.5 per cent water,’’ Mishra said, claiming that the neighbouring State has been planning to forcibly draw 88 per cent of Mahanadi water in the future.
Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Government has out-rightly rejected all allegations of the Odisha Government on Mahanadi water row.
Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand said that the State has always abided by the inter-state river water sharing norms and has used limited Mahanadi water without hurting Odisha's interest.
He stated that Odisha and Chhattisgarh are neighbouring States with common interest and detailed information by both the states regarding the Mahanadi issue will definitely help in solving the matter.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has recently stated that his Government was committed towards ‘judicious distribution of Mahanadi river waters’. The Chief Minister said this in the context of a letter shot by Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Mahanadi water issue.
Raman Singh said that Chhattisgarh Government respects all the prescribed provisions made for use of water of inter-state rivers.
He said that the Chhattisgarh Government had been making limited use of Mahanadi river waters. Moreover, Singh said that six barrages on Mahanadi will be completed by 2017.
The barrages will irrigate an additional 3,146 hectare acreage and Chhattisgarh will get extra revenue of Rs 200 crore. Eighty thousand hectares of extra acreage will be brought under cultivation every year, he stated.