Will discuss Mahanadi water discharge with Chhattisgarh: Meghwal

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal today assured the Odisha government that he will take up with Chhattisgarh authorities the alleged sudden discharge of water without informing the downstream state, which has led to a flood-like situation in some areas.

"Yes, the Odisha government has drawn my attention towards the sudden release of flood water allegedly by Chhattisgarh. I will talk to the Chhattisgarh government in this regard," the Minister of State for Water Resources told reporters here in reply to a question.

He said he would soon take up the matter as he underlined the "duty" of the Centre to play the role of a catalyst to resolve disputes between states.

The issue was also raised at a high-level meeting here when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the flood situation in the state.

Patnaik was told the Hirakud Dam authorities had no option but to open more sluice gates as huge volume of water came from Chhattisgarh. Twenty-five sluice gates have been opened at the Hirakud Dam through which 4,09,097 cusec of water is being released every second leading to a flood-like situation in Mahanadi basin districts.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal today "blamed" the BJP government in Chhattisgarh for the situation.

"Chhattisgarh is releasing flood water into lower catchments of Mahanadi river without communicating with Odisha authorities," BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra alleged.

Alleging that the Chhattisgarh have been obstructing water by raising projects on the upstream during non-monsoon seasons, Mishra said, they are now releasing excess water in rainy season.

"This is the reason Odisha has been suffering," Mishra said.

The BJD leader alleged that the Chhattisgarh government has no specific flood management plan.

The Odisha BJP spokesman Golak Mohapatra, however, said that the state government has developed a tendency to blame others for their own fault.

Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik blamed both the state government and the Chhattisgarh government for the flood situation in Mahanadi basin districts. "Chhattisgarh should not release excess water without holding talks with states in the downstream," he said.