Bhubaneswar, Dec 3: Today Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, during the assembly informed that his government has asked for an injunction suit from the Supreme Court against the Chhattisgarh government regarding the Mahanadi issue. He stated that the ruling state government has yesterday registered an original suit at the apex court under Article 131 of the Constitution of India. The chief minister said the state has claimed as a part of its equitable share of a minimum flow of 12.28 million acre feet of Mahanadi water at Hirakud Dam as per the DPR of Hirakud project of 1947 and a further utilisation of 3.67 million acre feet in the surplus flows.
He claimed the fact that these illegal action conducted by the neighbouring state would pronounce to socio-economic and ecological hazards to the state and its inhabitants. He also reminded the House of a statutory complaint filed by the state government before the Water Resources Ministry on November 22 under Section 3 of the Inter State Water Disputes Act of 1956 for the constitution of an Inter State Tribunal to adjudicate the water disputes arising from unilaterally planned utilisation of 27.48 million acre feet of Mahanadi water by the Chhattisgarh government as against a total availability of minimum flow in Mahanadi river of 20.61 million acre feet only.
As a reaction to the statement given by the chief minister, leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader, Narasingh Mishra said that as promised the CM s yet to take any legal action in this regard. All it has done is it has requested the Water Resources ministry to form an inter-state river dispute tribunal, he pointed out. The Opposition leader said if the tribunal will be formed, what will be the reply of the Odisha government and if its asked to give a clarification on the statement of the chief minister who in his statement in the State Assembly in 2010 had said the flow of Mahanadi water to Hirakud Dam has not decreased and rather increased by 24 percent during non-monsoon season despite construction of barrages and dams on upper catchments?