Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday reiterated the demand for setting up a tribunal to settle the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh.

Naveen's statement comes after Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari offered for fresh negotiations between him and his Chhatisgarh counterpart, Raman Singh, over the issue.

Naveen made his stand clear on the issue while speaking at a function organised by a business daily here on Saturday. "When we asked to stop construction of barrages, the then water resources minister, Uma Bharti, said the Centre had no power to do so. Hence, a tribunal is the only way out," Naveen said.

The BJD alleged that the Centre was a party to Chhattisgarh's "fraud and illegality" and allowed the state to go ahead with the constructions over the Mahanadi despite the indictment and show cause notice slapped on Chhattisgarh by the ministry of environment and forests for gross violations of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification and Amendment.

BJD MP Pinaki Mishra came out with letters on how the Chhattisgarh government had violated all rules and the Centre subsequently remained silent on the issue.

"On September 20, 2017, the ministry of environment and forests sent a letter to the Chhattisgarh water resources secretary and sought to know whether Chhattisgarh, on the pretext of irrigation, solely aimed at supplying water to the industries from each project built or being built in the Mahanadi upstream," he said.

Mishra also questioned how the Central Water Commission had permitted the Chhattisgarh government to go ahead with its projects without considering Odisha's point of view.

BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said: "Nitin Gadkari ji's offer for a talk and his stand on the Mahanadi issue in the Parliament has vindicated our stand. They are adopting a dilly-dallying tactics to delay the project. The only reason for the delay is the imminent general elections in Chhattisgarh."

However, the BJP's Odisha unit said the BJD was trying to give a political colour to the Mahanadi water-sharing dispute. "The Naveen government should come out with a statement on how much water is being given to how many industries from Hirakud dam and Samal barrage. They should explain how much water is being diverted for irrigation," the BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty.