Mahanadi: Odisha to move SC, BJD burns effigies of Uma, Raman

Bhubaneswar, Sep 20: With Chhattisgarh refusing to stop work on the projects being constructed on the upstream of the Mahanadi river, the Odisha government today said it will move the Supreme Court on the issue even as ruling BJD supporters burnt effigies of Uma Bharti and Raman Singh.

"The state cabinet yesterday approved a proposal to approach the Supreme Court as the Chhattisgarh government turned down Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's demand of stopping construction of projects on the upstream of Mahanadi," state Excise Minister Damodar Rout told reporters here.

"The cabinet fully supports the state government's proposal of approaching the Supreme Court," he said. Patnaik today held parleys with the leaders of different political parties, members of voluntary organisations and experts on the Mahanadi issue. Leaders of CPI, CPI(M), SP, RJD, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc and SUCI took part in the meeting.

The chief minister apprised them about the September 17 tripartite meeting at New Delhi. "Representatives of the political parties, who met the chief minister today, have supported the state government's stand on the Mahanadi issue," an official statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office said.

"We were apprised of what had happened in the meeting which has already appeared in the media. There was nothing new. We have told the chief minister that the state government delayed in raising its voice against the construction by the Chhattisgarh government," CPI(M) leader Janardan Pati told reporters.

He said the CPI(M) has suggested to the state government to approach the Supreme Court to set up a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute as the NDA-led Central government might support Chhattisgarh.

Pati also said there was no need to directly approach the Centre for setting up a tribunal as Chhattisgarh was ruled by the BJP. "The Centre will be forced to set up a tribunal if the Supreme Court intervenes," he added.

PTI