Mahanadi water issue: Odisha CM terms Raman Singh’s statement ‘most unfortunate’

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jul 27:
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today termed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s statement yesterday on Mahanadi water issue as most unfortunate.

“The statement of Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi water issue yesterday is most unfortunate,” stated Patnaik speaking to reporters here.

The Chief Minister said the statement violates the cardinal doctrine of inter-state river water sharing between co-basin states and our federal governance.

Commenting on Union Minister of State for Water Resources Balyan’s statement on the floor of the Parliament yesterday Patnaik said: “What is more unfortunate is the false and misleading statement of Balyan, Minister of State, Water Resources on the floor of Parliament yesterday.”

While requesting the Chhattisgarh government to stop all constructions till the issue is resolved, the Chief Minister said that he has already taken up the Mahanadi issue with the Prime Minister seeking his intervention.

“Mahanadi is the life line of our state. We shall not allow Mahanadi to dry out because of the unilateral and blatant actions of Chhatisgarh state. I assure the people of the state that my government will take up the issue at various levels and leave no stone unturned to establish our justifiable rights over the water of Mahanadi,” Patnaik pointed out.

Notably, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had yesterday said that Chhattisgarh had every right to draw water from Mahanadi and would draw it whenever the need arose and the projects undertaken by it had the approval of the Central Water Commission (CWC).

“Today there was a good debate in the Parliament and Chhattisgarh’s side has been strongly presented. Whatever water we are drawing has the sanction and approval of the CWC. We have every right to draw more water. We are using only 25% water of our share. Our projects have the approval of the CWC. An attempt is being made to make it into a political issue. It’s just the beginning we will take more water in the future for irrigation. It’s good that the matter will be discussed,” Singh had told reporters yesterday.