Mahanadi row: Odisha outfit stages dharna at Jantar Mantar

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Sep 05:

Activists of Odisha’s Samaj Andolan today staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi opposing construction of barrages upstream of river Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh government.

The organization demanded against politics over Mahanadi and sought Central government’s intervention to stop construction of barrages by Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi. It is opposing Chhattisgarh government’s move to check Mahanadi’s water flow by constructing dams and barrages.

“Today we discussed the Mahanadi water dispute with Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti. She has assured us that construction of barrage on Mahanadi won’t create any such problem. But still we are on dharna at Jantar Mantar. We would like to caution both Central and Odisha governments that we will intensify our agitation in the future if any such problem arises. All the barrages constructed by Chhattisgarh government on Mahanadi’s upstream is certainly going to pose problems for Odisha in the future,” said Prativa Das, convener of Samaj Andolan.