BHUBANESWAR: In a further push towards an amicable settlement to the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, a high-level meeting led by advocate generals of both the states was held in Puri on Sunday.
The meeting assumes significance as both the sides are likely to submit a joint report on the agreeable core issues to the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) during its next hearing on the issue on May 30.
While details of the meeting were not made public, advocate general of Odisha Pitambar Acharya said the discussions ended with remarkable developments in the direction of amicable settlement of the dispute on many core issues.
Advocate general Vivek Sharma, additional advocate general Bishwajit Dubey and standing counsel of Chhattisgarh Vinayak Sharma represented Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, besides Acharya, Odisha was represented by principal secretary of Water Resources department Shubha Sarma, technical team and assistant government advocates Debashish Tripathy and Saswat Das.
Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said further talks between Odisha and Chhattisgarh will start after the latter constitutes a ministerial committee as directed by the MWDT.
The minister told mediapersons that technical committee-level talks have already started between the two states and the next phase of negotiations will be held between ministerial-level committees. Odisha has already formed a ministerial-level committee headed by deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo to represent the state in the discussions.
The MWDT had recently directed both states to constitute ministerial committees to explore an amicable settlement on the long-standing Mahanadi water sharing dispute. Odisha had constituted its panel soon after the order, while Chhattisgarh is yet to notify its committee.
Stating that possibilities of resolution of the dispute has opened after the BJP government came to power in the Odisha, Pujari said stress will be laid on ensuring that the interest of the state is protected during talks on the issue with Chhattisgarh.
The dispute centres on alleged reduction in Mahanadi water flow to Odisha due to construction of barrages and projects by Chhattisgarh in the upper catchment. Odisha has been demanding release of adequate water during non-monsoon months to protect the interests of farmers in the lower basin.
Meanwhile, Mahanadi Bachao Andolan said it will visit the residences of the ministerial committee members to discuss about the data submitted by both the states to the Tribunal on availability of water in the Mahanadi basin.
