Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today came down heavily on BJP for creating ruckus in the State Legislative Assembly over the Gangadhar Meher lift canal system in Bargarh district by advising the saffron party not to shed crocodile tears, rather appeal the Centre to expedite the construction of second bridge on river Brahmani at the earliest.
The chief minister’s slam on BJP came minutes after the House was adjourned for the second time today.
During the question hour, BJP members stormed into well of the House and slammed the state government for not making any allocation in the supplementary budget for the Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System in Bargarh district.
The BJP members shouted anti-government slogans and claimed the government has shown disrespect to the eminent 19th century poet Gangadhar Meher after whom the project is named, by not allocating funds for it.
Unable to run the House, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat adjourned the House till 11.30 am.
After the House reassembled, BJP members continued shouting in the well while Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was making a statement on the issue.
As BJP MLAs interrupted him, Patnaik asked them to cooperate without shedding crocodile tears.
He said the allegation of non-allocation of funds for Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System is not true.
In the annual budget of 2017-18, Rs 1.5 crore has been allocated under pre-project activities of pipeline projects including Bijepur Lift Irrigation Project, he said.
One of those 58 projects, Bijepur Lift Irrigation Project has recently been renamed as Gangadhar Meher Lift Canal System and it would be reflected in the outcome budget of water resources department, the chief minister said.
Besides, the government has created a working division at Bijepur with one executive engineer, three assistant executive engineers and six junior engineers with other support staff to look after this project, he said.
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