MC Bhandare and (below) Bijoy Mohaptra

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 16: The BJP today urged governor M.C. Bhandare to use his “constitutional authority” against the Orissa government that had tried to hoodwink him on the issue of mismanagement of the Hirakud reservoir system, which triggered floods in the Mahanadi river system last month.

Addressing a news conference, state BJP senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra said: “It was unfortunate that the government chose to reject the suggestion of the governor on the constitution of an expert committee on the Hirakud reservoir system. The governor should use his constitutional authority in the interest of the state.”

In the first week of October, Bhandare had suggested that the state government should constitute a committee to look into the allegations of mismanagement of Hirakud reservoir that led to floods in the Mahanadi river system.

However, the government promptly rejected the governor’s suggestion stating that there was no need for constituting another committee. Later, it snowballed into a major controversy as the governor went to public stating that government should take the suggestion of an expert committee on the management of the Hirakud reservoir system.

However, Mohapatra did not clarify what kind of power the governor should exercise at this point.

“Under the constitution, the governor enjoys a lot of power to regulate the government. Taking the gravity of the situation, the governor should use his power,” Mohapatra added.

Mohapatra said: “The government is in the habit of ignoring suggestions made by constitutional bodies. It tried to suppress the Lokpal report on the land acquisition for the proposed Vedanta University and Kandhamal riot incident. Now, it has tried to mislead public opinion on the Hirakud reservoir management system.

“The governor should exercise his power as he has already visited many flood-hit areas and seen the plight of the people.”

Mohapatra also accused the government of ignoring the curve rule of the Hirakud reservoir.

“Between August 25 and September 10, more water was kept in the reservoir against its carrying capacity. The Orissa government neither followed the forecast of the Indian meteorological department nor Central Water Commission.

“All this was done keeping in mind the interests of a few industrial houses.”

Mounting his attack on the government for not preparing to launch an inquiry on the mismanagement of the Hirakud reservoir system, Mohapatra said: “How can a committee, constituted by the government, launch an inquiry against the government for its fault?”

Mohapatra also demanded a probe into the mismanagement of the Hirakud reservoir system either by the Central Water Commission or National Institute of Oceanography.

However, the government denied the charges made by the BJP.

“It was not a man-made flood. The present committee is competent enough to probe into the allegations of mismanagement of Hirakud reservoir system,” said disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patro.