Shah to chair meeting to resolve Mahanadi water-sharing dispute

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will preside over a meeting on October 1 to discuss the resolution of the Mahanadi river water-sharing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, with the Chief Ministers of both States expected to present their positions.

Mr. Shah’s meeting is expected to build confidence and trust between the two States so that a final resolution can be achieved and accepted, Odisha’s Advocate General Pitamabar Acharya said on Monday. “Apart from the Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Chief Engineers of Water Resources Department of both States will be present at the meeting,” Mr. Acharya added.

On July 30, Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil had chaired a high-level meeting to resolve the issue. For a decade, both States have been asserting their rights over Mahanadi.

“Engineers from both States have met multiple times to discuss technical issues. They have submitted their reports to the Central Water Commission (CWC), which is the apex body in technical and administrative matters pertaining to river water management in the country. The CWC will submit its report to Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M. Trivedi,” said Mr. Acharya.

Mr. Acharya pointed out that there were examples of court battles that never provided a long-standing resolution to river water disputes. “After Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Odisha, we informed the tribunal that both States should be given opportunity to sit together and talk directly on the contentious issues. The tribunal agreed,” he said.

Regulatory body

Mr. Acharya said the resolution that would emerge from both political and technical negotiations could be the best result. There could be a regulatory body for Mahanadi that will decide river water-sharing. “The tribunal will take the final decision,” he added.

Mahanadi, the largest river of the eastern Indian State, originates from the Amarkantak hills of the Bastar Plateau near Pharasiya village in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh. With a total length of 851 km, it flows about 494 km in Odisha before discharging into Bay of Bengal.

According to the Odisha government, Chhattisgarh built more than 500 anicuts and 30 barrages on the Mahanadi river after 2010. The previous Naveen Patnaik-led government demanded that upstream construction be halted and sought a definitive water-sharing formula, arguing that Odisha was critically dependent on the river. On the other hand, Chhattisgarh argued that 52.9% of the total catchment of Mahanadi and 89.9% of catchment up to Hirakud lies in their State and they had a right to use the water. This followed legal battle and the Centre constituted MWDT to solve this.