Angul: Two youths – one from Mahanga area in Cuttack district and another from Anandapur area in Keonjhar district stopped Wednesday at Angul en route to New Delhi on bicycles.
Krishnakant Sarangi from Mahanga and Subhrajit Barik from Anandapur are on a mission – to end the controversy that has affected Mahanadi. They want to hand over a letter on this issue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two started their journey from Cuttack, July 1 and spent the night at Boinda in Angul district Wednesday. They resumed their journey Thursday morning.
What makes them to set out on such an arduous 1,600 kilometres long journey? “For the sake of the people of Odisha” is the prompt answer of Krishnakant, who is a B Tech student and Subhrajit, who is an undergraduate at the moment.
“Mahanadi is the lifeline of Odisha. Since the water-sharing controversy started between Odisha and Chhatisgarh, the river is not being maintained properly. The flow of water is decreasing at an alarming rate and giving people sleepless nights. We want this imbroglio to end,” the two said in unison.
“We feel the state and the central governments are not serious in solving the issue. So we seek the PM’s intervention,” they added.
Both Krishnakant and Subhrajit said that their efforts are being appreciated by many and they are receiving a lot of support. “Several organisations in Angul have felicitated us. It proves that people are with us,” they said.
The two have set August 4 as the target date to reach Delhi and hand over the letter to the PM.
PNN