Odisha forms committee to resolve Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh

Bhubaneswar: Odisha on Wednesday formed an eight-member committee led by deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo to guide the govt in its ongoing efforts to amicably resolve the Mahanadi water-sharing dispute with Chhattisgarh.

“Considering the complexity and sensitivity of the issue, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi directed the formation of such a panel,” a statement issued by the CMO said. “The committee will examine all relevant aspects related to the Mahanadi water and provide necessary policy guidance for the ongoing efforts at the state’s technical and administrative levels,” it added.

Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari, law, works and excise minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain, govt chief whip Saroj Kumar Pradhan, BJD MLA Niranjan Pujari, BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra, and Congress MLA Sofia Firdous are members of the panel. Pujari’s inclusion in the team assumes special significance as the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal was formed in 2018 when he was the state’s water resources minister.

The Singh Deo-led panel was constituted following last week’s high-level talks between Odisha and Chhattisgarh officials for an amicable resolution of the Mahanadi water dispute, ahead of the tribunal’s next hearing on Dec 20.

Over the past 18 months, the technical committee of both states met six times, while CMs and chief secretaries also held discussions earlier. Odisha advocate general Pitambar Acharya earlier informed the tribunal that efforts are underway to resolve the matter through dialogue, alongside judicial proceedings.

In early Aug, Majhi met Union home minister Amit Shah and Jal Shakti minister C R Patil to push for a negotiated solution. This was followed by a secretary-level exchange and a meeting of senior water resources officials in Delhi on Aug 30.The tribunal, set up in 2018 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act after Odisha complained about Chhattisgarh’s upstream projects, has seen slow progress for years, prompting calls for political intervention, alongside legal adjudication.

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