Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government has plans on anvil to construct as many as 16 dams and 15 barrages on River Mahanadi.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi gave this information in the state assembly on Thursday.
He said that 16 dam and 15 barrage projects have been planned for securing sustainable water development with equity for Mahanadi waters in the interest of the state.
In a written reply to a query by BJD legislator Ranendra Pratap Swain, the chief minister said, due to excess unplanned use of Mahanadi water in the upstream catchment of Mahanadi basin by Chhattisgarh, flow of water to the downstream of Odisha is gradually reducing as observed at Hirakud dam site located near the interstate border of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
To this effect, the state has taken the shelter of the Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal and filed its claims through a number of pleadings and the matter is now sub-judice, he said.
Similarly, in another written statement to the House, Majhi informed that the government has also planned to build 41 in-stream storage structures on Mahanadi river.
Prasanna Acharya, BJD deputy leader in Assembly, had raised the issue during Question Hour.
Replying to Acharya, on behalf of the CM, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling said the BJP government has been in power for the last eight months. A dam cannot be constructed in such a short period, he said.
