Bhubaneswar, June 8: Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan today urged water resources minister Uma Bharti to advise Chhattisgarh to open the gates of Kalama barrage on the Mahanadi, so that Odisha did not reel from shortage of river water.

Pradhan's letter comes in the wake of chief minister Naveen Patnaik seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention over the issue. Naveen has pointed out that the Mahanadi upstream areas in the state have turned dry with people facing a drinking water crisis.

Pradhan urged Bharti: "I request you to advise the Chhattisgarh government for immediate opening of the gates of Kalama barrage to ensure free flow of water in the Mahanadi to mitigate the sufferings of the people of Odisha."

The issue, which has turned into a major political controversy, has forced the BJD and the BJP to seek the intervention of the Centre after Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh refused to oblige and asked Odisha government to approach the Central Water Commission.

"It is stated that the non-monsoon flow into the Hirakud reservoir received from the upper catchment of Mahanadi basin is showing a significant downward trend. The percentage of reduction alarmingly went up to 78 per cent in May. This is contrary to the interests of the people of Odisha," said Pradhan, who is BJP's poster boy in the state.

"Further it is apprehended that if this trend is allowed to continue, there will be near stoppage of water flow into the Hirakud reservoir, and in all likelihood, cause great loss to it and the lower catchment areas of Odisha," he said.

On June 6, Naveen wrote to Modi, urging him to instruct the Chhattisgarh government to open the gates of Kalama and other barrages to maintain free flow of water downstream.

Sharing the Mahanadi water has been a bone of contention between Chhattisgarh and Odisha for the past few months after it was found that the former had constructed a number of barrages in the upstream of the river "unilaterally".