Mishra for all-party meet to discuss constructions on Mahanadi river by Chhattisgarh govt

07 July, Bhubaneswar

Leader of Opposition in Odisha Legislative Assembly Narasingha Mishra Thursday demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the unilateral construction of barrages and reservoirs by the Chhattisgarh government on the upstream of the Mahanadi river.

In a letter to Patnaik, the copies of which was released to the press here, the senior Congress leader requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to convene an all-party meeting to spell out the steps to be taken to protect the interest of the state.

Mishra said he would call a meeting, if Mr Patnaik did not incline to call such a meeting, and sought the cooperation of the Chief Minister.

The Leader of Opposition said he was also willing to write to Prime Minister in this regard.

Mishra said Chhattisgarh government has constructed some structures and planned to construct more major structures on the upstream of the river Mahanadi in their state which would prevent the flow of water to Odisha.

The senior Congress leader said such unilateral decision of the Chhattisgarh government is against the interest of the state particularly the interest of the farmers who would be the worst sufferer and its consequences would be disastrous.

Mishra said, we are all opposed to the steps taken by the Chhattisgarh government for the construction of a reservoir based dam in the Kelo river adjacent to Odisha border and another such major structure on the upstream of Mahanadi within Chhattisgarh area”