Why longstanding Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha, Chhattisgarh could finally get a solution

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who chaired a meeting over the issue on July 23, wrote a letter to his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai two days later seeking a “mutually beneficial settlement”.  Sai responded to Majhi on Friday saying the former’s proposal is under “active consideration”.

In his letter, Majhi proposed a joint committee led by officials of the Central Water Commission and comprising officials from both the states to facilitate dialogue and technical negotiations to reach a “mutually beneficial settlement”.

“With our collective effort and active cooperation of both states and the Central Water Commission, we can achieve a just, equitable, and timely resolution to this pressing issue. Such a resolution will not only bring about peace and stability but also foster greater cooperation, trust, and goodwill between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, paving the way for future collaborations,” the Odisha CM said in his letter.

Official sources said chief secretaries of both the states held initial discussions on the issue.

River Mahanadi that flows through Chhattisgarh and Odisha is a major source of water for agriculture, industry and hydropower generation.

Official sources said the Mahanadi has a total catchment area of 141,600 square kilometres, of which 53.9 per cent is in Chhattisgarh, 45.73 per cent in Odisha and a very small part in Madhya Pradesh.

As the river caused massive flooding, Odisha in 1953 had constructed a massive 25-km long earthen dam at Hirakud in Sambalpur district to reserve water for irrigation facilities in western region of the state and for power generation. Odisha in 2016 claimed a minimum flow of 12.28-million-acre feet of Mahanadi water at Hirakud dam.

The water dispute 

The fresh proposal by the Odisha government for an amicable solution to the issue assumes significance with the BJP in power in both the neighbouring states and at the Centre. “The current political system in both the states and at the Centre creates a good opportunity to find an amicable solution to the river water dispute,” said a senior bureaucrat.

The neighbouring states locked horns over Mahanadi water since 2016 after Odisha alleged ‘unilateral’ construction of multiple barrages by Chhattisgarh in the upper catchment areas that resulted in reduction of flow into Odisha, the lower riparian state, during non-monsoon seasons.

Though the Centre initially tried to resolve the issue mutually with the then Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti holding a tripartite meeting attended by then chief ministers Naveen Patnaik and Raman Singh in September 2016, the then BJD government insisted on a tribunal to resolve the issue. It also moved the Supreme Court in November 2016 against Chhattisgarh’s “unilateral construction” of barrages over Mahanadi. Following a Supreme Court order in January 2018, the Centre in March that year constituted the three-member Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal.

Officials said Odisha has already informed the tribunal about the ongoing initiative for a peaceful settlement to the dispute through dialogue and negotiations.