Mahanadi row: Biju Mahila Janata Dal begins Kalash Jatra from Bargarh

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has started Kalash Jatra in Bargarh district on Saturday in protest against the unilateral construction of barrages by the Chhattisgarh government in the upper catchment area of Mahanadi River.

Under the leadership of Handloom and Textiles Minister Snehangini Chhuria and Surya Narayan Patro, hundreds of BJD women activists took out a procession on the streets of the town. They collected water from the Jira river, a tributary of the Mahanadi and Bargarh main canal.

The earthen pots filled with water have been broken by the women activists in front of the photographs of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union minister of state for water resources Sanjeev Balyan and Union Minister for Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.

If the construction of the projects are undertaken on the upper reaches of the Mahanadi, then water flow at the Hirakud dam would recede substantially which would incur a heavy loss to the State, said Snehangini Chhuria.

The Biju Mahila Janata Dal (BMJD) will organsie Kalash Jatra in six districts in western Odisha like Sambalpur town, Deogarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Jharsuguda and Bargarh from August 20 to August 25, said by BJD vice-president and spokesperson Surya Narayan Patro.

The party is protesting in a democratic way which would give a message to the Chhattisgarh Government and definitely have an impact, he added.