Tudu slams BJD over its 'nonchalance' to solve Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh

Dismissing allegations of bias made against the Centre by the ruling BJD over the Mahanadi water row, Union Minister Bisweswar Tudu on Wednesday claimed that the Naveen Patnaik dispensation ''lacked will'' to end the dispute with Chhattisgarh.

The minister also said that the ruling party in the state had been misleading people over the issue with ''false statements''.

BJD leaders had on multiple occasions alleged that the construction of check dams on the upper catchment area by the previous BJP government in Chhattisgarh have caused problems for Odisha, ''as the neighbouring state releases excess water during monsoons, leading to floods, and stops water flow in the summers, resulting in hardships for people''.

They claimed that the Centre has turned a blind eye to the problem, despite being told about it, as it had a bias towards Chhattisgarh.

The Union minister of state for Jal Shakti, who hails from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, however, said that the BJD government, instead of taking up the matter with Chhattisgarh, was shifting responsibilities on the Centre.

''The state government was not taking any step to resolve the row with Chhattishgarh and never made any proposal for construction of any barrage in Mahanadi during its 23 years of tenure in Odisha,” Tudu told a news channel.

He also accused the state government of being ''nonchalant'' about the problem.

''The BJD had been making false statements to mislead people on the issue,'' he said.

The minister noted that a Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal was formed by the Centre in 2018, on the intervention of Supreme Court, to decide on water sharing among states, and the utilisation of its resources.

The committee, comprising members from different states, was supposed to submit report in 2021, but its tenure was extended by two more years as it could not file observations within the stipulated period.

Tudu said that the Odisha government has now ''sought an extension of the tribunal’s tenure till 2026, as it does not want the problem to be resolved at the earliest''.

Echoing him, Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra later said that the state government was never serious about the Mahanadi water row.

“The BJD raises the issue only when there is an election approaching,'' Mishra added.