Odisha Bandh On Mahanadi Issue Soon: Niranjan

Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Saturday said it will give the Odisha Bandh call on Mahanadi issue very soon.

Briefing media persons at the Congress Bhawan here, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said both the Odisha government and the BJP government at the Centre are responsible for the Mahanadi issue.

“The prime minister, during his visit to Odisha, did not give any assurance to the people on the solution of Mahanadi issue. He is supporting Chhattisgarh directly and indirectly as the state is presently ruled by the BJP government,” he said.

The PCC chief also came down heavily on the BJD government. “About 29 industries shifted their units to Chhattisgarh due to the failure of the Odisha government in providing them the water to run their industries. The state government did not take any measures to conserve Mahanadi water and remained silent till 2015. With the Assembly election round the corner, the state government has started shedding crocodile tears to win the support of the people,” he pointed out.

Taking a jibe at the BJP government at the Centre over the steep hike in the price of petrol and diesel, Patnaik urged the people of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to stop driving their vehicles from 6 am to 12 pm

Countering the statement of the PCC president, BJP leader Golakh Mohapatra said when the former should clarify as to why the then Congress government during its tenure in which he was the Water Resources minister, had not agreed to form a joint control board to resolve the Mahanadi issue. “Had the board constituted at that time, the matter would not have gone to such extent,” he maintained.

BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said while the Congress leader had remained silent on this issue when Prasad Harichandan was the PCC president. “What we now observe is that there is a change in the opinion of the Congress leaders with the change of leadership in the party,” he observed.