Bhubaneswar: The Odisha unit of BJP and the ruling BJD today came together against the statement of Chhattisgarh Water Resources minister Brijmohan Agrawal, who alleged that Odisha has diverted rivers Indravati, Tel and Jonk.
Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra slammed his own party minister in Chhattisgarh over such remark. "Odisha has not committed any mistake in the matter of Tel, Indravati and Jonk. So, statement of Chhattisgarh Water Resources minister is unfortunate. It is clear from his remark that Chhattisgarh does not want to sort out the controversy rather it wants to intensify the problem further", Mohapatra said.
Odisha BJP president Basant Panda also supplemented his party colleague. He vowed not to compromise the interest of State under any circumstances. "I assure that the interest of Odisha cannot be compromised. It's unfortunate if anybody gives a remark against Odisha", Panda rued.
Echoing similar voice, BJD spokesperson Surya Narayan Patro said that the minister of the neigbouring State has made an attempt to foil the upcoming meeting. "So, he is making different statements over the matter which is baseless. This is unfortunate", he pointed out.
However, the Congress, which joined the suit by criticising Chhattisgarh, also did not spare the Odisha government. "Indravati is a settled issue. He (Brijmohan) wants to reopen the matter in order to hide their mistake. Odisha government's inefficiency has invited such remark from the neigbouring State", senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik said.
The Chhattisgarh minister stated that Odisha has diverted river Indravati without informing the neighbouring State. "We will raise all these matters in which Odisha has caused damage to our interest in the upcoming meeting", Agarwal said.
Notably, Odisha suggested September 17 date for a tripartite meeting proposed to resolve the Mahanadi water sharing disputes.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who also heads the water resourced department, would hold a preparatory meeting here on September 12 to discuss the issue with top State officers. In the preparatory meeting, the state government would also chalk out its strategy for the September 17 meeting.