Mahanadi row: BJD to stage rail roko across Odisha on Aug 3

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 1:

Intensifying its opposition to several projects on Mahanadi river in Chhattisgarh, Odisha’s ruling party today announced to stage rail roko across the state on Wednesday.

The workers of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) would stop the Chhattisgarh-bound goods and passenger trains for 30 mins on Wednesday.

“We would block the rail movement to Chhattisgarh for half an hour as a token protest against the projects on Mahanadi. Besides, we would stage a relay hunger strike in front of Central Water Commission office at Bhubaneswar,” BJD General Secretary Debi Prasad Mishra informed media.

Besides Mishra, party leaders Pratap Keshari Deb and Kishore Kumar Mohanty were present in the press conference.

On the other hand, the party leaders today took out a rally in Nayagarh from Durga Prasad. Senior leaders Arun Sahu, Sanjay Das Burma, Khurda MLA Rajendra Kumar Sahoo, Khandapada MLA Anubhav Patnaik, Daspalla MLA Purna Chandra Nayak and Ranpur MLA Rabinarayan Mohapatra participated in the rally which made rounds of the town before reaching the Collectorate.

The held a protest meeting in front of District Collector’s office and submitted a memorandum to the Collector addressing President of India.

“Nayagarh town and its adjoining areas depend on Mahanadi river for drinking water consumption. If Chhattisgarh goes ahead with the projects on Mahanadi, then the river bed would dry up and we would face acute water crisis during summer,” local legislator Arun Sahu said.