Hundreds of local people who gathered on the banks of the Mahanadi in Harabhanga block of Boudh district on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Sunday resolved to oppose the proposed Manibhadra dam project over the mighty river.
They announced the formation of the Manibhadra Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (MPSS) to spearhead the movement against the proposed dam till the Centre and the State government announce withdrawal of the project.
Among others who called upon the locals to stay united to prevent inundation of vast tracts of land and forests in Boudh and Angul district in the event of construction of the dam includeed president of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti Abhay Sahoo, social activist Rabi Das and water activist Ranjan Panda.
Asking villagers to continue their agitation in a peaceful manner, Mr. Sahoo urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save thousands of people from being displaced by the proposed dam.
Convener of the MPSS Abakash Sahoo urged the villagers to question the ruling Biju Janata Dal local leaders to clarify their stand on the proposed project in the run-up to the forthcoming gram panchayat election.
He announced that the MPSS would take out a bicycle rally from Boudh to Bhubaneswar soon to highlight their demands.
The Manibhadra project was part of the Centre's river-linking initiative to connect the Mahanadi with theGodavari in Andhra Pradesh, the MPPS leader.
The dam project should be opposed tooth and nail to prevent loss of livelihood sources and displacement of thousands of people in order to protect the interests of the industries that would ultimately source water from the proposed project, said Mr. Das.
Vehemently opposing big dams over the Mahanadi, Mr. Panda said the Centre and the Odisha government should clarify their stand on the proposed dam before going ahead with its first implementation.
The locals had come together to oppose the proposed dam after Central agencies started conducting technical studies for the project in the area in the recent past, according to the MPSS convener.
