Odisha, C’garh spar over Mahanadi

The Odisha Government demanded an early handover of the Mahanadi tribunal’s terms of reference during the first regional conference meeting of five States held in Kolkata on Monday.

Besides, the State asked for a halt in the construction work of Mohamala Sirapur barrage and other projects on Mahanadi upstream in Chhattisgarh.

“We presented our argument during the inter-State meeting. We demanded that Chhattisgarh should stop all construction works till the Mahanadi river water issue is settled,” said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Surjya Narayan Patro, who represented Odisha.

During the meeting, Patro had a verbal spat with Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brij Mohan Agarwal.

Patro said Chhattisgarh is carrying out constructions contrary to the National Green Tribunal’s order. However, Agarwal said the Mohamala Sirapur barrage construction was started before the NGT’s order and nowhere flow of Mahanadi waters is being obstructed. He further said the tribunal set up on orders of Supreme Court would decide on the issue.

The inter-State conference, which was chaired by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal, was attended by representatives from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.