NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting to find a solution to the long-pending Mahanadi water-sharing dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha, officials said.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai attended the meeting to represent their respective states.
Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, senior administrative officials and technical experts from both states also attended the meeting, which focused on exploring a mutually acceptable framework for the regulation and sharing of Mahanadi waters.
The meeting holds significance as efforts to resolve the dispute through bilateral discussions have remained inconclusive for several years. Both states have, however, recently indicated their willingness to consider a technical solution proposed by the Central Water Commission (CWC) in the larger interest of their people.
Sai, while speaking to media in Raipur before leaving for Delhi, had said the two Chief Ministers had written to the CWC expressing their willingness to accept its decision on the issue.
“There has been a water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh for so many years, so today we will hold a meeting under the chairmanship of the Union Home Minister,” Sai said, adding that both the states had conveyed to the CWC that they would accept a decision taken in their collective interest.
The dispute centres on the sharing and utilisation of Mahanadi waters, with Odisha maintaining that barrages and water projects constructed upstream in Chhattisgarh affect the flow of water into the downstream state, particularly during the non-monsoon months.
Chhattisgarh, on the other hand, has maintained that the river’s waters are essential for meeting its domestic, agricultural and industrial requirements.
The Centre has been attempting to facilitate dialogue between the two states as the dispute remained locked in legal and administrative processes. On August 31, the Chief Secretaries and Water Resources Department secretaries of Odisha and Chhattisgarh met in New Delhi and stressed the need for an “amicable settlement” in the interest of people in both states.
Earlier, on July 24, Majhi chaired a high-level meeting in Bhubaneswar to review the dispute and stressed the need for resolving it through dialogue, with the Centre’s cooperation. Senior officials, including the advocate general and development commissioner, attended the meeting.
The dispute dates back to 2016, when Odisha filed a complaint with the Centre under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, seeking adjudication of its dispute with Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi and its basin.
Following the failure of bilateral efforts, the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in March 2018 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act to adjudicate the dispute.
