Bhubaneswar, Sept 16: Today afternoon the Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik will leave for Delhi to attend the tripartite meeting tomorrow to find a solution to the Mahanadi issue. On behalf of the state, the chief minister will be presenting the viewpoints of the Odisha residents on the Mahanadi issue.
The meeting will also be attended by Chhattisgarh chief minister, Raman Singh and Union Water Resources Minister, Uma Bharti. To find a solution to the Mahanadi issue, the Union Water Resources Minister had asked both the State governments to suggest a date in between September 10 and 20 to hold a discussion. The Odisha government requested the Ministry to organize the discussion on September 17.
In the meantime, the BJD’s fact finding team which had conducted an on-spot verification of the projects undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government on the Mahanadi River last month under the leadership of MP Prasanna Acharya, has submitted its report to the Chief Minister. More than 15,000 well – wishers and party supporters including MPs and ministers will be present at the Bhubaneswar Airport to see off the Chief Minister.
Yesterday the BJP lambasted the Odisha CM’s move that he had taken of meeting the representatives of at least 16 organizations, including two Left parties to discuss on this Mahanadi issue sensitive issue of Mahanadi. Citing criticisms to Patnaik’s decision of seeking suggestions from various people to resolve the issue, BJP state president, Basant Panda remarked that the BJD is least interested in resolving the issue and it is just the political pressure that has made him do this. He further added that Patnaik must keep all the information about the Mahanadi issue into open before seeking for public suggestions.
Reacting on the allegation made by the BJP state president, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said that the BJP is yet to understand that the ruling BJD government is trying to protect the interest of the state and is fully prepared for the tripartite meeting to be held in New Delhi.
