The drier the Mahanadi gets, the hotter the debate is. The onset of summer has fuelled great apprehension about the river system’s flow and, eventually, its state of health, with large stretches running dry. What has sent the temperature soaring is the dipping water level of Hirakud, the only dam system on the Odisha side of the river, considered the state’s lifeline. The latest weekly report of the Central Water Commission shows that Hirakud’s live storage at 2.55 billion cubic metres is barely about 48% of the live capacity of the full reservoir level and below last decade’s average of 52%.
That Odisha could be headed for a harsh summer can be gauged from the present storage of all its ten reservoirs being 19% below the decadal average. Mahanadi runs a mighty 494 km through the state, accounting for 42% of the combined catchment areas of 11 river basins. Hirakud has a command area of over 1,53,000 hectares for irrigation and meets the water needs of major industries and urban and rural centres, besides a hydel-generating capacity of 307 megawatts. Anything and everything with Mahanadi is bound to impact Hirakud, with its echoes found across the socio-economic and political echelons of the state.
Much of the problem started after Chhattisgarh built a spate of structures in the last decade. Water flow to Odisha during non-monsoon seasons was depleted, surprising the government. This sent the two states on a path of confrontation. The Centre tried to resolve the issue but in vain. The BJD government filed a statutory complaint before the Supreme Court in 2016 and then sought an injunction on construction activities in the upper reaches of Mahanadi in the neighbouring state. Two years later, the Centre constituted the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal which got its second extension after the expiry of its tenure on March 11 last.
In the last 25 sessions of the tribunal, the hearing could not begin since the common information format was not set. The tribunal is set to commence its field visits to the two states next month to expedite the proceedings. However, concerns for Odisha, the lower riparian state, will linger. Besides, history shows that inter-state river water tribunals in India have not succeeded in resolving disputes. Resolving the matter through a political route seems the best option, and the two states must explore it.