Uma convenes meeting of Chhattisgarh, Odisha CM over Mahanadi water dispute

New Delhi: Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said on Wednesday that she has convened a meeting of Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to sort out Mahanadi water dispute at the earliest.

She made the announcement after a delegation from Odisha led by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan called on her here.

“I will hold a meeting with the Chief Ministers of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on a mutually convenient date between September 10 and 20 at New Delhi to ensure that no injustice is done to Odisha,” she told reporters after the meeting.

She said that a meeting was called by her ministry here on July 29 which was attended by officials from Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

“After this, I made a statement in Parliament according to which both the states had to exchange information with each other on the issue,” she said.

She said that she has directed her ministry officials to complete this task of information exchange at the earliest.

Odisha has been opposing the construction of barrages in the upper catchment areas of the Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh government on the ground that it will affect Odisha’s farmers.

–IANS