Odisha free to move Supreme Court on Mahanadi water issue: Chhattisgarh minister

Bhubaneswar: Chhattisgarh Water Resources minister Brijmohan Agrawal on Sunday said Odisha is free to move anywhere to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute.

“We got to know that the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government has sought an injunction from the Supreme Court on Mahanadi water issue. We have no objection if the state government moves anywhere to settle the issue. We are always ready to solve the matter at the earliest. But the Odisha government wants to politicize the issue”, said Agarwal.

Notably, the Odisha government has moved the apex court seeking an injunction against Chhattisgarh’s ‘unilateral’ construction on Mahanadi river.

The minister said the Odisha government want to linger the issue to take political mileage in the panchayat polls early next year.

The Odisha government has filed an Original suit in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution of India on December 2 seeking an injunction against Chhattisgarh from continuing with the construction of ongoing projects and from taking up future projects.