
When Atal Behari Vajpayee inaugurated the Bansagar hydel project in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, little did he realise that the Central government had sent a letter asking for the postponement of the ceremony. The Centre thought MP could not go ahead and unilaterally announce inauguration of the inter-state project.
Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz is also chairman of the Bansagar Control Board. The Executive Committee of the Bansagar Reservoir Project of which the CWC chairman is the ex officio chairman had met in July, but the state did not raise the matter.
On being asked, Soz said: 8220;This inauguration is inappropriate as it is an inter-state project and one state cannot claim credit for it8221;.
The Water Resources secretary of Bihar wrote to the MP government marking their protest, but later agreed to be party to the ceremony due to the political configurations. The state was represented at the ceremony by Water Resources Minister Ramashray Prasad Singh.
Uttar Pradesh on the other hand did not even know about the ceremony.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by then PM Moraraji Desai 28 years ago. The project will generate 425 mw of electricity and irrigate more than two lakh hectares of land.