BJP to come up with white paper on Mahanadi river water

Announcing its plan to unveil a white paper on Mahanadi river water issue amid a row between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, BJP today asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to give up his ego and work sincerely for safeguarding the interest of the state.
"BJP will soon come out with a white paper on Mahanadi river on the basis of agreement, dispute and other related facts," senior BJP leader and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters here.
Mounting a scathing attack on the BJD regime in Odisha, Pradhan said ideally the state government should have published such a white paper as it has all the necessary facts and figures on Mahanadi river.

Unfortunately, the ruling BJD is more interested in politicising the issue in order to divert people's attention from scandals like the chit fund scam, ration card irregularities, attack on political opponents and death of malnourished children, the BJP leader said.
Slamming the Chief Minister for his government's approach towards Mahanadi water issue, Pradhan said Patnaik must give up ego and arrogance to work sincerely to safeguard the interest of the state.
Time has come for the Chief Minister to set aside his party's interest, he said.

Odisha's interest would never be compromised so far as
Mahanadi water was concerned, the Union Minister said, adding necessary steps would be taken to ensure that Odisha got its due share of the river water without any cut.

Stating that the issue was discussed in Parliament, he said Union ministers have taken note of discontinuous flow of Mahanadi water downstream during non-monsoon period.
"The Centre is very much aware of the rights of Odisha on usage of river water and not a drop of Mahanadi water will be stopped from flowing into our state. The NDA government is committed to safeguard the interests of Odisha," said Pradhan.
While hitting out at Patnaik, Pradhan was all praise for Congress stalwart and Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra for taking the initiative and calling an all-party meeting on the Mahanadi water issue.

Accusing Patnaik of failing to proactively fight for the interest of the state, the BJP leader said if he was really
interested in safeguarding the rights of Odisha, he himself would have convened an all-party meeting.
It was unfortunate that the Chief Minister did not even
respond to Mishra's communication on the all-party meet as his sole objective was to derive political gain from the issue by misleading the people, he said.
However, it is never too late for an exemplary initiative and the Chief Minister should come forward and discharge his duty and responsibility, said Pradhan.
On formation of a joint control board (JCB) between the two states as per a 1983 agreement, the BJP leader said the BJD government has been evasive as all its lies and false propaganda would be exposed if such a body was formed.

Stating that BJD leader Arjun Sethi was Union Water Resources Minister from 2000 to 2004 and Naveen Patnaik has been in-charge of water resources department in the state, Pradhan said the Chief Minister and his party should be more accountable to the people on Mahanadi river water issue.
As a political party, BJD has the right to agitate and block rail tracks, but the party government cannot shirk its responsibility, he added.