What is the issue?
- Sharing of Mahanadi river water has been a bone of contention between the states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
- Odisha is now increasingly showing its resentment to the centre for not intervening and resolving the water dispute.
What are Odisha's concerns?
- Odisha is arguing that Chhattisgarh has been constructing dams and weirs (small dams) upstream the Mahanadi river.
- This is being allegedly carried on by the Chhattisgarh government without consulting Odisha.
- Odisha says this would affect the flow of the river downstream and affect drinking water supply.
- Also, it would impact the irrigation facilities in Odisha and adversely affect the interests of the farmers.
- It is also alleged that Chhattisgarh would utilise water far in excess of the equitable share of the waters of Mahanadi.
- Moreover, the weirs and other projects would impact the flow of water in the Hirakud reservoir, a multipurpose river valley project, which is a lifeline for many in the state.
What is the way forward?
- Under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 a tribunal can be formed to resolve water disputes.
- A tribunal could be formed if a state government requests the Centre and the Centre is convinced of the need to form the tribunal.
- Odisha has long been demanding the formation of a tribunal for resolving the Mahanadi river water dispute.
- However, notably only three out of the eight existing tribunals have given awards accepted by the states concerned.
- The Centre has recently put forward the idea of a permanent tribunal to adjudicate all inter-state river water disputes for speedy resolution.
- Materialising this idea could be a solution to the Mahanadi River Water Dispute and many such water disputes among different states.
Source: The Hindu, Indian Express
