By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 17, 2016 : Odisha government once again has sought detailed information about the completed and upcoming projects built in the upper catchments of Mahanadi River.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Wednesday told media persons that a meeting between the Odisha government and Chhattisgarh government over Mahanadi issue was held in New Delhi on July 29 in which the latter had assured to give the details of the projects which have been completed. But it has not sent any information about the project.

“The Odisha government had sought details from Chhattisgarh about monthly utilisation of water from completed projects and under construction projects which are in the pipeline. Besides, the state government had also sought detailed reports on the amount of water the neighbouring state would require from these projects in future for private, industrial and thermal power use. Though the Chhattisgarh government had assured us to give the detailed information within 15 days of the meeting, we are yet to receive any information till date. We have sent a reminder to the Chhattisgarh government on this matter and informed the Central Water Commission (CWC) accordingly,” Padhi said.

Odisha government needs official data from the Chhattisgarh government so that it can study the impact assessment on the use of water can be done properly.

“After we get the data, our engineering wing will do a thorough analysis. In fact, we have been reviewing the data received from different sources. But we need official data from the Chhattisgarh government. It does not matter whether the Chhattisgarh government provides us the data or the Centre provides the data after collecting it from the Chhattisgarh government. Once we get these official data, we will be able to make a correct assessment after which we will decide our own strategy to counter this issue,” Water Resources secretary Pradeep Jena said.