State govt hiding letters on Mahanadi project: BJP

Bhubaneswar: Accusing the stage government of making an attempt to hide its incompetence and misleading the people of Odisha, BJP on Sunday alleged that the government is hiding the letters exchanged between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on the contentious Kelo project on the upper catchments of Mahanadi.

At a press meet in Bhubaneswar, BJP today produced a compilation of the official correspondence between the two states on the Kelo project in which BJP claimed that letters were exchanged in July 14 and October 4, 2008.

“Earlier we had produced some letters received by Odisha, which the BJD spokespersons had termed it as fake. The State government has been crowing that they have been kept in the dark and not informed by the Chhattisgarh government. The chief engineer of the Irrigation department SC Behera, while referring to the letter sent by the Chhattisgarh government, had responded October 4, 2008. This letter proves that the state government was totally aware about the project and due to its incompetency it has kept the people of the state in the dark. Because of such incompetence, the people of Odisha are being deprived of their rights,” BJP leader Sameer Mohanty told media persons .

“The state government is trying to rake up controversy out of the whole issue only to gain political mileage,” he claimed.

Refuting the charges Sashibhusan Behera, BJD spokesperson, said, “The State unit of BJP along with the Centre is advocating on behalf of the Chhattisgarh government. Meanwhile, the Odisha government will continue its protest until the project in the neighbouring State gets halted.”