The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Centre’s ambiguous stand on the constitution of a tribunal to settle the Mahanadi water dispute which has become a major conflict between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. With the ruling BJD in Odisha and the BJP engaged in mudslinging, the SC’s observation has turned the focus on the Centre’s neutrality. The Centre has none but itself to blame.
The then Union Minister of State for Water Resources informed the Lok Sabha in August that the Centre had decided to constitute a tribunal since the dispute could not be resolved through negotiations. He also accused Odisha of non-participation during two meetings.
After Odisha filed a complaint before the SC last year seeking the formation of a tribunal, the option before the Centre was to notify the same within a year, which it did not. In its December 6 affidavit, the Centre made a U-turn and refused the constitution of a tribunal on the grounds that Odisha did not adduce substantive evidence to back its case. While the Centre was critical of Odisha for its lack of seriousness, it was appreciative of Chhattisgarh for its efforts to resolve the dispute. This provided enough ammunition to the BJD to accuse the Centre of acting in a partisan manner, as Chhattisgarh is a BJP-ruled state.
While Odisha has clearly been a laggard for not remaining awake to developments in Chhattisgarh which started building barrages over Mahanadi over a decade ago, its demands are just. Though the upper riparian state was right in protecting its own interests, its high-handedness was seen when it arbitrarily controlled Mahanadi water last year. Despite having a flood management information-sharing protocol in place, Chhattisgarh brazenly overlooked Odisha’s interests.
Though the Centre tried to bring the states to the negotiation table and failed, it was imperative on its part to remain objective. While Odisha would do well to study the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Centre must not allow Mahanadi to go the Cauvery way.