BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday expressed reservations about the Centre’s ambitious proposal on Mahanadi-Godavari link project barely 10 days after a central delegation briefed chief minister Naveen Patnaik about the plan.
“The Centre hurriedly took the decision at a meeting. So far, water resources ministry has not submitted any formal proposal about the project. Let them provide all information about the project then we will see,” said state water resources secretary P K Jena.
“If the Centre has conducted any study, it should provide information about the water level of Mahanadi, places where they want to construct barrages and number of people going to be affected,” he added.
He also said there would be deficit of water in the Mahanadi by 2051, according to a preliminary estimate of the state government.
On May 29, a team, comprising officers from the ministry, Central Water Commission and National Water Development Agency under the ministry made a presentation before the chief minister on the project.
The project proposes to divert the Mahanadi water to the Godavari through Nayagarh, Khurda, Ganjam and Gajapati districts by storing surplus water in a reservoir, planned at Manibhadra in Nayagarh district, and constructing four barrages at different places.
In November last year, Odisha did not send its representative to Jal Manthan, a conference organized by the ministry in New Delhi to discuss inter-linking of rivers, repair and restoration of water bodies and water management.
Prasanta Patnaik