Mahanadi row: Odisha’s BJD fact-finding team submits report to Naveen

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 11:

The BJD fact-finding team that had visited neighbouring Chhattisgarh to study barrages under construction upstream of Mahanadi by the latter and its impact on Odisha, today submitted its report to party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

BJD Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya who had led the fact-finding team to the neighbouring state along with party general secretary Debi Prasad Mishra presented the 23-page report with two annexure to the party president.

“The fact-finding team that went to Chhattisgarh to check-up the Hirakud water problem has just presented me its report,” said Patnaik to reporters here.

“Naveen Patnaik had constituted a party committee to study the Mahanadi water crisis. The committee last month went to Chhattisgarh on a two-day visit and made spot visits to different projects being undertaken by the government there on Mahanadi and its tributaries and had conducted studies apart from speaking to their officials. Whatever details we had elicited after speaking to officials and general public there and the extent of loss those projects are going to cause to Odisha we have put it all in the report that we submitted to our party president today,” informed Acharya to reporters after presenting the report to the Chief Minister.

Declining to share details of the report and leaving it to the party president to take a call, the Rajya Sabha MP said the report had 23 pages and two annexure.

He, however, informed that the report contains details of whatever information was made available to them on the flagrant violations made by the Chhattisgarh government and the immense loss it’s going to cause to Odisha in the future.

Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has proposed Union Water Resources Ministry to join the proposed tripartite talks over Mahanadi river water dispute on September 17 in Delhi.

Prior to the Delhi meeting, Patnaik has called for a preparatory meeting on September 12.

It may be recalled here that Union Minister Uma Bharti had proposed last month to invite the Chief Ministers of Odisha and Chhattisgarh for tripartite talks over Mahanadi issue at Delhi on any day between September 10 and September 20.