New Delhi: Taking cognisance of complaints made by Orissa over sharing of Mahanadi water, the ministry of water resources led by Union minister Uma Bharti has constituted a committee to assess availability and utilisation of water in the river and its tributaries.
According to an official statement issued by Union Water Resources Ministry, the panel will examine existing water=sharing agreements on the Mahanadi and consider claims of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand regarding usage and availability of water.
“We have constituted a negotiations committee to assess availability and utilisation of waters of Mahanadi and its tributaries. The committee will also examine existing water-sharing agreements on river Mahanadi and will consider claims of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand regarding availability and utilisation of waters of these rivers,” a release issued by the ministry Thursday said.
According to the ministry, the main reason behind setting up of the panel was the objections raised by Orissa over sharing of Mahanadi waters. “The committee was set up with reference to a complaint from Orissa under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 regarding utilisation of waters of Mahanadi Basin,” the release stated.
According to details available from the ministry, the panel will be chaired by a member of the Central Water Commission and will have 11 other members comprising representatives from the states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand and from the Union ministries of Agriculture, Environment Forest and Climate Change, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and India Meteorological Department. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.
This comes after a series of allegations and counter-allegations between Orissa and Chhattisgarh over the violation of pre-decided negotiations and disparity over usage of the Mahanadi’s water. The Central government including Union minister Uma Bharti has already chaired a meeting to resolve the inter-state river dispute by inviting the chief ministers of Orissa and Chattisgarh to resolve the conundrum, but in vain.
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