BJD misleading State on Centre’s Mahanadi stand: BJP

BHUBANESWAR: As the blame-game over the Centre’s refusal to constitute a tribunal for adjudication of dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of Mahanadi water continues, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan once again appealed to the State Government on Sunday to open the door for negotiation with the neighbourig State.

Accusing the ruling BJD of launching an aggressive propaganda against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, Pradhan said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seems to be more interested in politicising the issue than finding a solution. “The State Government’s allegation that the Centre is playing a partisan role by declining to constitute a tribunal is nothing but a disinformation campaign to mislead the people,” Pradhan said. On Thursday, the Chief Minister had said the Centre is no longer a neutral referee in the matter (Mahanadi water dispute). His remarks came in the wake of the filing of an affidavit by the Centre in the Supreme Court.  

Responding to a query, Pradhan said the Centre has introduced a Bill in the Parliament to amend the Inter State River Water Dispute Act, 1956 which aims at providing justice to the affected States in a time-bound manner. Earlier, the tribunal were taking 8-10 years to resolve the disputes. There are instances that cases of inter-state disputes are pending before the tribunal for nearly three decades. Provisions have been made in the Bill for delivery of judgment within three years.

The Union Minister said the State Government has gone to the Supreme Court requesting for constitution of a tribunal. If the court decides in favour of a tribunal, no one can stop it. Criticising the State Government for closing the door of negotiation with Chhattisgarh on the dispute, the Union Minister said a solution could be found through talks. In a federal system, every State has the right to protect its interest so far as inter-state matters are involved. However, the disputes could be better resolved through discussions. This is why the Prime Minister has been insisting for talks between the two States.