Mahanadi Water Blockage: Awareness Tour To Kalma Begins

Bhubaneswar: Taking strong exception to blockage of Mahanadi water with a barrage illegally constructed by the Chhattisgarh government, activists of the Mahanadi Banchao Andolan (MBA) on Tuesday took out Sachetanata Yatra (awareness tour) from the Odisha capital to Kalma to get the details of the volume of water blocked by the barrage.

The rally, which began from  Lingaraj temple, will reach Kalma where the members after collecting detailed information, will take out an awareness rally and reach Puri on April 15.

Pointing out that the recession in water level of Mahanadi in Hirakud dam will severely affect hydropower generation and irrigation, besides acute scarcity of drinking water, the MBA activists said they would apprise the people of these problems and launch a signature campaign. Besides, a memorandum to this effect would be submitted to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court.

“It’s high time that the Centre rises to the occasion, giving justice to Odisha and acknowledging its legitimate rights over Mahanadi water,” BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said.

Welcoming and supporting the efforts of the MBA activists, senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik said a massive awareness is necessary to apprise the people of the serious threat due to the blockage of Mahanadi water.

Talking to mediapersons, Sudarshan Das, convener of MBA, said the alarming fall in the water level of Mahanadi in Hirakud dam will further aggravate water scarcity in Odisha. “Considering the gravity of the situation, we demand that the Chhattisgarh government immediately opens all gates of the barrage at Kalma and we are going to submit a memorandum to this effect to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” he added.