PREZ URGED TO PROTECT ODISHA PEOPLE’S INTEREST
Thursday, 11 August 2016 | PNS | BHUBANESWAR | in Bhubaneswar
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The all-party committee led by Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Narasingha Mishra on Tuesday, through a memorandum submitted to Governor Dr SC Jamir, urged President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene into Mahanadi water dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha and ensure that interest of people of Odisha is best protected.
As many 17 representatives of different political parties, including Congress, BJP, CPI and CPM, and social organisations met the Governor at Raj Bhawan here and placed four demands. The team requested Jamir to send the memorandum to the President.
Besides urging for the above demand, the all-party committee urged that the Chhattisgarh Government be asked to stop construction work of barrages upstream Mahanadi immediately, formation of a River Board as per the Central River Board Act 1956 to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute issues and cancellation of all approvals given to Chhattisgarh for Mahanadi projects by the CWC and the Ministry Environment and Forests without consent of the Odisha Government.
“The dispute is a direct fallout of neighboring Chhattisgarh unilaterally deciding to construct various projects such as dams, barrages over the Mahanadi as well as its tributaries, ignoring the rights of the downstream riparian Odisha State. The construction of such dams and barrages is bound to affect the water flow in the Mahanadi river system and is sure to trigger drought and devastation in Odisha. And people of Odisha have staged their protest on this issue by staging dharna,” points out the memorandum.
The climate of distrust prevailed as the newly-formed Chhattisgarh Government started constructing several barrages at Kalma, Sardiah, Basantpur, Shiv Narayn, Mirouni, Samoda, Kudari, Chicopal and Kudormal and dams like Kelo dam, Arpa-Bhaishajhar dam, Tandula dam and Pirari-Mahanadi dam, the memorandum mentioned.
Aama Odihsa Party chief Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra, senior journalist Rabi Das, Former judge of Orissa High Court Justice Choudhury Pratap Keshari Mishra, CPM State secretary Janardan Pati and CPI Secretary Dibakar Nayak were among those visited the Raj Bhawan.
Meanwhile, the all-party members formed a committee headed by former High Court judge Justice Choudhury Pratap Keshari Mishra to decide on course of actions vis-a-vis Mahanadi water dispute.The Leader of Opposition announced names of the committee members before the media here.
Other members of the committee are former Finance Minister Panchanan Kanungo, senior journalist Rabi Das, social activist Gouranga Hota and water protection activist Ranjan Panda.
Mishra said another person from western Odisha would be taken as member of the committee soon. Besides, the chairman can take more members in the committee to support him, Mishra said.
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