Raman Singh and Balyan's statements 'unfortunate': Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Jul 27 () Pledging to take the Mahanadi river water issue to its logical end, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today dubbed as "unfortunate" the statements of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Balyan on the matter.
"The statement of Honourable Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi water issue yesterday is most unfortunate," Patnaik told reporters while reacting to Singh's statement.
Singh had yesterday said his government would go ahead with the projects despite the stiff resistance put up by the Odisha government.
"Chhattisgarh is taking water after getting nod from the CWC (Central Water Commission). In fact, we have the right to take more water. Nobody can prevent us from going ahead with the construction. We are currently using only 25 per cent of the water," Singh had said.
Denouncing Singh's statement, Patnaik said, "It violates the cardinal doctrine of inter-state river water sharing between co-basin states and our federal governance."
The Odisha Chief Minister, who has already sought intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the dispute over Mahanadi water, also sharply reacted over Union Minister Balyan's statement in Parliament yesterday.
"What is more unfortunate is the false and misleading statement of Balyan, minister of state, water resources, on the floor of Parliament yesterday," Patnaik said.
Meanwhile, the Union Government has convened a joint meeting between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on July 29 to discuss the sharing of Mahanadi water. (MORE) AAM CR KIS