‘Apex court order on Mahanadi, a moral victory for Odisha’

BHUBANESWAR: After the Supreme Court asked the Centre to form a tribunal within a month to resolve the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the BJD on Tuesday accused the Centre of double standards.

BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Pratap Deb told mediapersons that the Supreme Court order has proved that the stand of the State Government and BJD was correct all along.
He said the BJD is fighting for the justice for Odisha over the issue and agitating against the Central indifference since July 4, 2016.

Alleging that negotiations between the two States over the issue failed because of non-cooperation of Chhattisgarh, Deb said the Chief Minister had proposed in the tripartite meeting held at New Delhi in September, 2016 for setting up a joint expert committee and give it three months time to study the problem.

Besides, he had also demanded that Chhattisgarh should stop all construction activities on Mahanadi river. But, negotiation failed as Chhattisgarh government did not accept the proposals of Odisha Government, he said and added that the Chief Minister had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention. However, there was no response, he said and added that the State Government approached Supreme Court after all options failed.

BJD state secretary Bijay Nayak said the Supreme Court order on formation of tribunal is a moral victory for the people of Odisha and has exposed the tacit support of Centre to Chhattisgarh which is a BJP-ruled state. Supreme Court’s order has rekindled hope among the people of Odisha that the State will at last get justice on the Mahanadi river water dispute, he said.