Bhubaneswar: BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab on Friday accused the Union Government of procrastinating the Mahanadi water issue which has now snowballed into a major controversy between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Mahtab’s statements came soon after Minister of State for Water Resource Sanjiv Baliyan in a letter claimed that efforts were on from his ministry to resolve the Inter State River Mahanadi dispute.
In the letter, Baliyan further stated that earlier a Negotiation Committee was formed for amicable settlement of the Mahanadi dispute. However, Odisha had skipped the meeting that was convened on February 28 in this regard.
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Reacting sharply over Baliyan’s response, Mahtab said that the Centre has not instructed Chhattisgarh to stop the construction of the disputed projects despite Odisha’s concern over such projects.
Odisha Government has already urged the Centre to cancel the constitution of Negotiation Committee and is demanding for formation of a Tribunal.
The committee would delay the setting up of the tribunal and Chhattisgarh would get enough time to complete the construction of disputed projects, he said.