Odisha Blames Chhattisgarh For Flood In Mahanadi

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government, which has sounded a possible flood alert in the riverside districts on Mahanadi downstream, on Wednesday blamed the Chhattisgarh government for creating the flood situation.

While the water level of Hirakud Reservoir is constantly on the rise due to the release of the Mahanadi water by the Chhattisgarh government from the Kalma Barrage, the floodwater of the river was flowing at a height of about 2 feet over the Shri Narayan Barrage in the neighbouring state. Almost all low-lying villages on the upper catchments of Kalma Barrage are marooned by the floodwater.

The Chhattisgarh government has released Mahanadi water from its barrage without prior notice to the Odisha government. As a result, there is a flood situation in the downstream areas in Odisha. We had anticipated this and now it has happened, former minister and BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra told mediapersons here.

The Congress has also strongly criticised the Chhattisgarh government.

“The Odisha government will be able to regulate the Mahanadi floodwater only if the Chhattisgarh government gives prior information. If the neighbouring state goes on releasing water from its barrages, there will be a sudden and unprecedented flood in Odisha. I blame the Chhattisgarh government for its high-handed attitude and the Odisha government for its gross inaction,” Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik told the media.

However, Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brij Mohan Agrawal said there is no grave flood situation in Odisha. 

Thanking the Odisha government for saving Chhattisgarh from a major flood by releasing Mahanadi water from the Hirakud dam, he said there will be no flood situation if there is proper coordination between the two states.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Wednesday gave a briefing on the matter to the Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Arjun Ram Meghwal, who arrived in Bhubaneswar following the release of Mahanadi water by the Chhattisgarh government.

Briefing mediapersons after a meeting with the Principal Secretary, Water Resources, Pradip Jena at the State Secretariat, Meghwal said there is a need for coordination between the two states to manage the regulate the Mahanadi water. “Apart from this, both the states should prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) to decide the time and the volume of water to be released from the upper catchments,” he added.

Stating that he has come to Odisha as the Centre acts as a catalyst in any inter-state disputes, he said he will have a meeting with the Chhattisgarh government on this issue.