Shah to Chair October 1 Talks on Mahanadi Water Dispute

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

Odisha Advocate General Pitamabar Acharya said on Monday that the meeting is expected to build confidence and trust between the two States so that a final settlement can be reached and accepted. Besides the Chief Ministers, the Chief Secretaries and the Chief Engineers of the Water Resources Departments of both States will attend, he said.

The October 1 talks follow a high-level meeting chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil on July 30. The two States have been asserting their rights over the river for a decade.

According to Mr. Acharya, engineers from both States have met several times to discuss technical issues and have submitted their reports to the Central Water Commission, the apex body for technical and administrative matters relating to river water management. The commission will submit its report to the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, which is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M. Trivedi.

Mr. Acharya said court battles had in the past failed to deliver lasting solutions to river water disputes. After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Odisha, the State told the tribunal that both sides should be given the opportunity to sit together and discuss the contentious issues directly, and the tribunal agreed, he said.

He added that a resolution emerging from both political and technical negotiations could be the best outcome, and that a regulatory body for the Mahanadi could be set up to decide water-sharing. The tribunal will take the final decision, he said.

The Mahanadi, the largest river in eastern India, originates in the Amarkantak hills of the Bastar Plateau near Pharasiya village in Chhattisgarh's Dhamtari district. It runs 851 km in total, of which about 494 km lie in Odisha before it empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Odisha has said Chhattisgarh built more than 500 anicuts and 30 barrages on the river after 2010. The previous Naveen Patnaik-led government sought a halt to upstream construction and a definitive water-sharing formula, arguing that Odisha depends critically on the river. Chhattisgarh has contended that 52.9% of the Mahanadi's total catchment and 89.9% of the catchment up to Hirakud lie within its territory, giving it a right to use the water. The dispute led to a legal battle and the Centre constituted the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal to resolve it.