BJD-BJP Face Off On Mahanadi River Dispute As State Still Awaits A Solution
Bhubaneswar, November 20: With a year gone by since the BJD led Odisha government proposed constitution of an inter-state river tribunal to resolve its dispute with Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi, the party on Monday protested the lackadaisical attitude of the Centre for not responding on time.
According to BJD, the state government had proposed constitution of the river tribunal, a year back on November 19, 2016. However, the Centre has taken no action on the issue so far. Rather, Chhattisgarh continues construction to disrupt the river water, violating the directions of the Supreme Court of India.
Addressing the meet, BJD’s Vice President and spokesperson Prasanna Acharya said, “As per the River Dispute Act Section 4A, it has been clearly mentioned that whenever a state appeals for the formation of a river tribunalregarding the river water dispute, the law demands the Central Government to take a decision in the matter at the earliest. A year has gone by since our state had applied for setting up a river tribunal. When the matter was taken to the Supreme Court, the Central Government had stated, ‘A cabinet memorandum has been prepared and the government will take adecisionby November 2017. But till now no such action has taken in this regard.”
“Clearly the law has been violated with utter disregard for the apex court’s directives, and betrayal of the country’s federal system. That apart, the Central Government has betrayed the people of Odisha,” added Acharya.
The national party, on the other hand, has taken a stand on the issue with the secretary of BJP’s state wing Lekhashree Samantasinghar saying, “The river tribunal is a constitutional provision and there isa certain procedure to be followed for its constitution. The provision is only delayed, it is not denied. The ruling party has no intention to resolve the matter. Instead, they want to misguide the state’s public and are taking the plea of the project getting delayed.”
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She even said, “If they are really concerned about the solution, they could have met the Chhattisgarh government and found an amicable solution for both the states. Unfortunately, our chief minister does not have any data nor any idea about the river dispute; he is thus avoiding any real discussion.”
