Opposition Criticises Ruling BJD For Not Visiting Saradiha Barrage

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Congress and BJP Sunday took a pot shot at the ruling BJD for not visiting the Saradiha barrage site during its two-day tour to Chhattisgarh to take a stock of the situation about the construction of projects on Mahanadi river.

The Congress and BJP leaders alleged that the ruling party skipped its visit to Saradiha site fearing protest from Saradiha locals.

“The BJD team should have visited Saradiha to get a clear picture about the barrage project,” said Leader of Opposition (LoP) Narasingha Mishra.

“They didn’t visit the place fearing stiff protest from locals who are on Jal Satyagraha protecting the delegation of ruling BJD,” said Mishra.

He said the Odisha government has an office in the locality, and it might have exposed the claim of the government that it was kept in dark about the construction of projects on the Mahanadi river by the Chhattisgarh government.

The saffron party also criticized the move of the ruling party.

BJP leader Samir Mohanty said the ruling party didn’t visit as it didn’t have the courage to face its mistake.

He also questioned the visit of a political team to Chhattisgarh instead of a government technical team to examine the impacts of the projects.

On the other hand, BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb rubbished the allegations of the opposition parties and said the team couldn’t visit the place due to lack of time.

The BJD team had visited various project sites on August 9-10 and are yet to submit their report to the Chief Minister.