Bhubaneswar: The memorandum submitted by the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) led by its president and the Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra to the President of India on the ongoing Mahanadi row in New Delhi a fortnight ago, has been referred to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Informing this to the media here today, Mishra said the Rashtrapati Bhawan in a letter to the Odisha Congress has informed that apart from the PMO, a copy of the memorandum submitted to the President has also been forwarded to the Water Resources and Home Ministries as well.
Notably, the CLP had met President Pranab Mukherjee on October 13 and urged him to ask the central government to stop all ongoing contentious projects on the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi River till the dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha is resolved.
Apprising the President that the Chhattisgarh government is illegally building barrages which would affect Odisha resulting in water scarcity, the CLP leader had also requrested the President to set up an inter-state water dispute tribunal for resolution of the dispute if a mutual understanding is not reached.
Also read: Cong urges Prez to stop Chhattisgarh’s Mahanadi projects
“We urged the president to recommend the Centre on how to stop all the projects which are being illegally undertaken on the upper catchments of Mahanadi. Moreover, we have asked the president to write a letter to the central government to set up an inter-state water dispute tribunal if the dispute remains unresolved through mutual discussions,” Mishra had told the media.