Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Supremo Naveen Patnaik has accused the BJP-led Odisha government of lacking sincerity in protecting the Mahanadi river, citing the absence of the state’s Advocate General from a crucial Tribunal hearing on the Mahanadi water dispute.
In his social media post, Patnaik made a scathing criticism of the BJP-led Odisha government’s handling of the Mahanadi water dispute.
Patnaik slammed the government for being insincere and only paying lip service to the cause, stating that the people of Odisha will not accept any compromise on the river’s protection. He has also questioned the government’s strategy for resolving the dispute, accusing the government of not taking adequate steps to protect Odisha’s interests.
Besides, Patnaik accused the government of paying lip service to the cause, shedding ‘crocodile tears’ without taking concrete action to protect the Mahanadi.
That apart, he emphasized the river’s importance to Odisha’s people, calling it the ‘lifeline’ and ‘mother’ of the state, and asserts that no compromise will be accepted on its protection.
“What is the BJP government’s sincerity in saving the Mahanadi? Odisha’s Advocate General, representing the state, was absent from today’s hearing in the Tribunal on the Mahanadi dispute. Was there some such crucial work related to Mahanadi’s protection that he could not be present to argue Odisha’s case in the Tribunal’s hearing? What did the people of Odisha, who had pinned many hopes on the Tribunal’s hearing, receive?”, read his post on X account.
His post further read “It is now clear from this that the Odisha BJP government has no sincerity or commitment to saving the Mahanadi. The government is not taking this matter with any seriousness at all. They are just shedding crocodile tears. The Mahanadi is our mother, the lifeline of Odisha. It is the lifeblood for lakhs of farmers, fishermen, and countless Odias. The people of Odisha will never accept any compromise on its protection. The fight of the Biju Janata Dal, involving every Odia, to save the Mahanadi will gain even more momentum.”
It is pertinent to note that the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal is set to conduct a hearing on March 14, after conducting a spot visit between February’s last week and March’s first week. The tribunal’s tenure is set to end on April 13, and both Odisha and Chhattisgarh have requested the Centre to extend the tenure until March 27, 2027.
