11-day Odisha-Chhattisgarh meet to resolve Mahanadi row

Bhubaneswar: An 11-day marathon bilateral engagement between Odisha and Chhattisgarh began on Tuesday, marking what officials described as the “most concerted push yet” to resolve the long-pending Mahanadi water-sharing dispute through dialogue.Advocate-general Pitambar Acharya said the outcome of the talks would be placed before the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal at its next hearing on June 27. “We hope to resolve the issue mutually,” he said.Officials said the structured deliberations focus on the water-sharing formula, availability, upstream projects, basin management and data reconciliation, with an aim to reach point-by-point consensus.Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi had on June 12 indicated that he would soon meet his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai in New Delhi to explore an amicable settlement, likely after technical and legal teams conclude their discussions.The Centre set up Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in March 2018 under Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, following Odisha’s suit in the Supreme Court in Dec 2016. Since coming to power, the BJP govt in the state has pushed for a negotiated settlement, terming the litigation route time-consuming. In April this year, the Centre extended the tribunal’s tenure by nine months, till Jan 13, 2027, from the earlier deadline of April 13, 2026.

The latest round of talks follows a series of political and administrative initiatives over the past 18 months aimed at breaking the deadlock.Efforts towards a negotiated settlement gathered momentum after the tribunal, during proceedings on Jan 25, 2025, encouraged both states to explore an out-of-court resolution. Subsequent meetings between the chief ministers in Feb and March last year signalled willingness on both sides to pursue dialogue.On July 25, 2025, Majhi wrote to the Chhattisgarh chief minister proposing the formation of a joint committee under Central Water Commission to facilitate sustained engagement. The tribunal later granted additional time for negotiations after both states expressed readiness for an amicable settlement.A structured dialogue mechanism was formalised during a meeting of the two states’ chief secretaries in Delhi on Aug 30, 2025. Odisha subsequently formed a high-level political committee under deputy chief minister K V Singh Deo in Dec and convened an all-party meeting in Jan this year to finalise its position ahead of formal negotiations.Officials said progress made during the ongoing discussions could significantly influence the future course of the dispute before the tribunal.