Odisha Channel Bureau
BALANGIR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today criticised Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for indulging in politics over Mahanadi water sharing.
“There is no dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha over Mahanadi water. There can’t a dispute over the river that unites the people of the two States,” said Singh.
The Chief Ministers and Water Resources Ministers of the two States can solve the issue through dialogue within no time, he added.
While addressing a rally in Loisinga block of the district seeking votes for BJP candidates contesting the panchayat elections, Singh blamed the BJD government for not taking no measures to utilise the Mahanadi water downstream of Hirakud reservoir.
Chhattisgarh, having 87 per cent catchment area, was using only 4 per cent and Odisha, with 13 per cent catchment area, was using 14 per cent of the Mahanadi water, while the rest 82 per cent water was flowing into the ocean unutilised, clarified Singh.
The situation would have been better had the Naveen Patnaik Government utilised its energy to use the water that was flowing into the ocean by constructing dams and barrages over Mahanadi in the 500 km distance downstream of Hirakud than fighting with Chhattisgarh, Singh observed.
As Singh continued his election campaign in the region, BJD, Congress and other parties staged protests against his visit criticising him for not stopping construction of barrages over Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh.
