Chhattisgarh has reduced Mahanadi water flow: Pradhan
Bhubaneswar, June 10: Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday admitted that Chhattisgarh has reduced the downstream flow of water in the Mahanadi, due to which Odisha is not getting the required river water during non-monsoon months.
Pradhan said that the water flow into the Mahanadi's lower catchment area has been affected due to the construction of barrages in the upper catchment areas in Chhattisgarh.
The Minister was addressing a press conference in Sambalpur on the completion of four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.
He said that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should take steps to put pressure on the Chhattisgarh government to release water to Odisha.
"There is a need to put pressure on the Chhattisgarh government and I request the Odisha Chief Minister to take steps in this regard. I personally support the cause and the Centre will always help in resolving the issue," said Pradhan.
He said no provision has been made by the state government to store water in lower catchment areas of Hirakud reservoir, as a result of which the water is flowing into the sea.
On the other hand, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said that the central government should put pressure on the Chhattisgarh government to release water for the benefit of the Odisha people.
"The Union Minister was forced to admit this not due to his conscience but due to people's mandate in Odisha," said BJD Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik said: "This indicates what the Congress and every Odia have been saying all along. The BJP shamelessly snatched Odisha's share of the Mahanadi and the BJD helped them in doing so by silently supporting the loot. This has been happening since the BJD and BJP joined hands for power in Odisha."
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BJP MLC kept under 'digital arrest' for 90 minutes in UP's Sultanpur; case lodged
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): A case was registered after BJP MLC Shailendra Singh was allegedly kept under "digital arrest" for about one-and-a-half hours here, police said on Thursday.
In his complaint, the member of legislative council (MLC) said he received a phone call from an unknown number on March 2, where the caller claimed to be an officer with the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and alleged that Singh's bank account was being used for money laundering and other suspicious activities.
Singh reported that the caller told him that he had an account in Canara Bank.
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"I told them that I do not have any bank account outside Lucknow and Sultanpur. They kept me engaged on a video call for about one-and-a-half hours and asked me to lock myself inside a room and not speak to anyone," Singh said.
He alleged that the callers repeatedly sought details related to his Aadhaar card and bank accounts.
According to Singh, some of his associates grew suspicious and checked the phone number, and found that it was not linked to the Mumbai ATS but was registered in the name of a woman from Madhya Pradesh's Satna.
The callers allegedly disconnected the call when they sensed that their identity might be exposed.
Singh later lodged a complaint at the cyber police station in Sultanpur.
Cyber police station in-charge Akhanddev Mishra confirmed the incident and said the fraudsters had attempted to put the MLC under "digital arrest".
He said the police are tracking the phone numbers and IP addresses from which the calls were made.
