BJD Gears Up For Mahanadi Maha Sammilani

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the Mahanadi Maha Samilani scheduled on April 22, the BJD had a preparatory meeting at its party office in the Odisha capital on Sunday. The meeting also discussed in detail what kind of political programmes will be taken up by the party in the symposium to be organised on April 22.

“We have invited the people representatives of the BJD of the river bank areas in the upper and lower catchments of Mahanadi. Besides, we have also invited the experts and technical persons at the Maha Sammilani wherein there would be intense deliberations. Besides, papers highlighting complex issues would be submitted at the Maha Sammilani for discussion. We will also display visuals. We will also request the people representatives to visit all the riverside villages and make people aware of the consequences of the impending acute water crisis they are going to face to the blockage of Mahanadi waters and conspiracy between the Centre and the Chhattisgarh government against Odisha,” Acharya said.

However, the BJP has strongly criticized the BJD over the issue.

“The manner in which the BJD has come to the street, organized meetings and trying to put pressure on the newly constituted Mahanadi Tribunal is a clear indication that it has lost all sense of proportions, manners and etiquettes. The ruling party should learn how to deal with the issue legally,” BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya told media persons.

Stating that the Term of Reference (ToR) cannot be achieved through agitation, he said the BJD is trying to put pressure on tribunal which is indecent.

On the other hand the state government will demand ToR for the Mahanadi Tribunal at the first inter-state conference of five eastern zone states scheduled in Kolkata on Monday to be presided over by the Union minister of state for Water Resources, Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Besides, it would also demand immediate halt in the construction work of a barrage at Mohamala Sirapur and other projects in the upper catchments in Chhattisgarh.

Representatives from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal will discuss inter-state river water issues.

Talking to media persons, BJD spokesperson Surya Narayan Patro said the state government will present its argument and demand immediate halt in the ongoing construction of dams and barrages by the Chhattisgarh government till the Mahanadi river water issue is settled.