The Congress today accused both BJD and BJP of conspiring to mislead people on the Mahanadi river water issue ahead of the Panchayat elections in Odisha, and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter.
The party sought the formation of a tribunal to solve the vexed dispute and direction to Chhattisgarh to halt all construction works on the river.
“As Panchayat polls in Odisha are being held next month, BJD is trying to mislead people over Mahanadi river water issue for votes. BJP is also not lagging behind in its bid to derive political mileage,” Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan told reporters.
The manner in which a Negotiation Committee to resolve the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh was mooted by the Centre and the way the BJD government rejected it, had made it amply clear that both political parties were desperate to mislead people to get votes, he said.
The OPCC chief said he has written letters to the Prime Minister and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the Mahanadi river issue and the need to resolve it quickly.
Harichandan said he has urged Modi to direct the Chhattisgarh government to stop all construction works on River Mahanadi and its tributaries in that state pending final decision or arbitration on the matter.
The PM should also scarp the Negotiation Committee on the issue constituted and ensure formation of an Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal to resolve the matter, he said.
“As the ball is entirely in your court, I would urge upon you to keep aside narrow political considerations and play an active role which is imperative to safeguard the interests of Odisha and basic cooperative federal ethos and principles,” the PCC chief said in his letter to the PM.
Describing Mahanadi as the mother river to millions of people of Odisha, he said Chhattisgarh’s attempt to construct a number of projects on the river and its tributaries would deprive the people of Odisha of their due share of water.
Such unilateral construction undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government amounts to gross breach of principles of cooperative federalism that our Constitution envisages, he said. (More)
(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
Source: dnaindia.com