Bhubaneswar: The ruling party in the state claims that politicising the issue of the inter-state river water dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha is unfortunate and the parties should refrain from engaging in petty politics.
Senior veteran party Shashi Bhushan Behera, Sunday, said that the Supreme Court has backed the views of the state government and the matter is now with the tribunal. He termed the use of the issue by rival parties as “unfortunate”.
“Mahanadi is the lifeline of the state. A lot of protests have been reported earlier in the state on the issue. Lot of agitations marked the inter-state dispute. Legally the state government has put forth their views. The Supreme Court backed our stand. Politicizing the issue is unfortunate,” he said.
There were speculations that the sensitive issue of Mahanadi was swept under the carpet post the general elections. The matter was a point of serious discussion both for the ruling and opposition parties.
Before the elections, the matter was transferred from the Supreme Court to a new tribunal formed to resolve the Mahanadi issue. The Centre and the Chhattisgarh government— which was ruled by the BJP— opposed the formation of the tribunal while the Odisha government continued to press for a tribunal to solve the Mahanadi issue. The apex court later agreed for the formation of the tribunal.