Bhubaneswar: Soon after the Kalma dam chief engineer spoke about opening one more gate of the barrage last evening, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh took a different stand altogether. He dared Odisha government to knock the doors of the CWC if it has any problem. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik meanwhile wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the possible water scarcity in Mahanadi due to closure of Kalma barrage gate.
"It is not a fight between the states. The decision on how much water each state will get is decided by the CWC, not us or Odisha. If anyone has any problem they must approach CWC. Chhattisgarh has constructed all small and big dams with CWC permission," claimed the chief minister of the neighbouring state.
"As such there is no water flow in summer. Mahanadi has water flow for only four months in a year. It is only a sand bank throughout the rest of the year," said Singh.
Odisha government has said it will indeed take up the issue with the Central government, CWC and Supreme Court.
"The versions of the Kalma dam chief engineer and the Chhattisgarh CM are contradictory. The Odisha government will raise the issue at all platforms," said BJD MP Pratap Deb.
CM Naveen has also reiterated these issues in his letter to the PM.
Earlier, acceding to the demands of Odisha government, Chhattisgarh on Monday, opened one gate of Kalma barrage. This was informed by an official of Water Resources department of the neighbouring State.
"Water is generally released through one gate throughout the year. One more gate has been opened yesterday keeping monsoon rains in view. Now, water is being released through two gates," Kalma dam chief engineer SK Awadhiya told OTV over phone.
After report on the closure of the barrage gates was talecast on OTV, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik shot a letter to his Chhattisgarh counterpart urging him to ensure free flow of water downstream. Due to closure of the gates in the upstream, the flow of water to the Hirakud reservoir had reduced considerably.
Chief engineer of Odisha Water Resources Department Suresh Jain had earlier had said at a press meet that flow of water has reduced by 40.65 per cent million acre feet in March, 66.56% in April and 79.37% in May 2017 in comparison to last three years even as Chhattisgarh Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal had rejected Odisha’s allegation of closure of barrage gates.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jual Oram said the data provided by Odisha government is confusing. “These are ten-year-old data. Law will take its own course as the Mahanadi matter is sub-judice”, Oram added.
BJD rubbished Oram’s statement dubbing him as anti-Odia. “He has grown up in Odisha and is going against it. If he has some particular data, he should make it public”, the BJD MP Prasanna Acharya said.
He further stated “Chhattisgarh is trying to suppress the fact that it has closed the gates of Kalma barrage leading to reduction of water flow. It is clearly known that who is misleading people”, Acharya added.