CM raises Mahanadi, Polavaram issues at inter-state meet

Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday objected to construction of projects by the Chhattisgarh government unilaterally on the Mahanadi river and sought discontinuance of Polavaram project across the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking at the 11th inter-state council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Naveen urged the Prime Minister not to allow any upper catchment projects in the Mahanadi basin without consulting Odisha.Terming it the lifeline of Odisha, Naveen said, Mahanadi has direct impact on 50% of our population and indirectly on around 65% of the population (through its subsidiaries).
From time immemorial, the people of Odisha have an emotional, cultural and organic relationship with the holy river, he said.
Naveen said lives and livelihood of farmers of 15 districts (Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Angul, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jagasinghpur, Jajpur, Puri, Nayagarh and Khurda) were completely dependent on the Mahanadi.
State government sources said a two-member team from Odisha will visit the project site of a barrage in Mahanadi in the upper catchment of Mahanadi on July 25. A tripartite meeting of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and the Central Water Commission, earlier scheduled on August 15 has been postponed. Reminding about Odisha's continued opposition to the Polavaram project, Naveen said unfortunately the Union government has not addressed the genuine concerns of Odisha and declared it a national project against the principles of fair play. Naveen sought an institutional mechanism to settle such disputes in a time bound and effective manner.
Naveen also demanded increase in minimum support price of paddy to at least Rs 2,500 a quintal from the current Rs 1,470. He said Odisha did not gain on account of increase in share of central tex from 32% to 42% because the Centre discontinued central aid to key programmes like special plan for KBK, backward region grant fund and integrated action plan.
Terming Left-wing extremism as the biggest threat to internal security of Odisha, Naveen asked for equitable deployment of central forces among various states to prevent cross-border spillage of Maoists. He said Odisha has created specialised tactical commando units and constituted a state task force to respond to threats emanating from across the borders.