Amicable solution on Mahanadi soon, Bharati says in LS

BHUBANESWAR: Union water resources minister Uma Bharati on Tuesday said the Centre will soon find an amicable solution to the Mahanadi water dispute even as BJD intensified its protest and a Congress team visited the project sites in Chhattisgarh. An inter-state meeting on the issue is scheduled on July 29.
Responding to a calling attention motion on the issue moved by the BJD, Bharati said the meeting of representatives from the two states will iron out the differences."There will be no injustice to any state, as the government believes in Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas," she said. Invoking Lord Jagannath, Bharti said the Centre will never compromise on Odisha's interest. "Odisha is very dear to us," she said.
Sanjeev Baliyan, Union minister of state for water resources, said a tribunal will be constituted if the two states fail to resolve their differences. Baliyan said the Union government's role came into the picture only when Odisha wrote a letter to it only about one and half months ago. Baliyan said though an inter-state meeting was scheduled on June 26, Odisha sought one month time.
Baliyan said, "On Kelo project, opinion of Odisha was sought in 2006. However, it didn't respond till 2009. On Arpa project, the minister said Chhattisgarh had started work without recommendation of the technical advisory committee of the Central Water Commission, which is against the established procedures."
Stating that Odisha has been raising the issue since 2000, BJD MP Bhatruhari Mahtab said Odisha's repeated requests to the neighbouring state have fallen on deaf ears. "The Chhattisgarh projects were meant to generate energy and setup industry and not to provide irrigation facility and drinking water," the Cuttack MP said. Stating that BJD doesn't want to make it a political issue, Mahtab said the Chhattisgarh government acted in an illegal manner.