Union Minister of State, Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu on Saturday came down heavily on Odisha's BJD government while accusing it of neglecting interest of the State by never proposing a project on Mahanadi River in its 22 years of rule.
Speaking to mediapersons during his visit to Rayagada and Koraput, Tudu said, “The BJD government has never put in any proposal during Central Water Commission (CWC) meeting.
The Union Minister urged the State government to propose projects over Mahanadi River. “I request the State government to come up with their project proposals over Mahanadi River. As the BJP will be in power at the Centre for the next two years, many developmental works can be carried out in an accelerated manner,” the Union Minister said.
“We have already prepared detailed project report (DPR) to tackle water scarcity and water logging issues in the State. The upper catchment area of Hirakud lies in Chhattisgarh, but we can carry out projects in lower catchment. But for this, the State government must show its interest," said Tudu.
Reacting on Tudu's statements, BJD MP Munna Khan said, “The Union Minister (Tudu) should take initiative on his own first and ensure water to Odisha.”
“The Odisha government has been protesting and even knocked the doors of courts and tribunal to ensure provision of water to people of the State. Being the Union Minister of State Jal Shakti, he should take the help of Centre and pressurise Chhattisgarh to stop carrying out projects on Mahanadi,” Khan added.