Water disputes tribunal begins field survey of Mahanadi river in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal on Tuesday started a five-day field survey in Chhattisgarh to study the water flow downstream and the availability and use of water in non-monsoon season, officials here said.

The three-member tribunal assisted by a technical team started the visit from Dhamtari district where the river originates, they said.

In the first phase of the survey ending April 22, the tribunal will cover Mahanadi basin in Chhattisgarh and visit Odisha in the second phase from April 29 to May 3, an official from the public relations department said.

The tribunal has so far held 36 hearings. During a hearing of water dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha on March 25 in New Delhi, it had decided to conduct a field survey, he said.

Speaking about the tribunal's visit, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said, “This (matter) should not have gone to the tribunal. Mahanadi originates in Chhattisgarh and we don't have a dam here. The dispute erupted after barrages were constructed. Due to the ongoing dispute over water sharing, we could not construct a dam in Surguja and barrages (in other places). I understand we should get permission (for the construction), as the entire water of the river goes to Odisha." Chhattisgarh, which came into existence on November 1, 2000 after its bifurcation from Madhya Pradesh, has the largest Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population in the country, the PR official said.

The basin areas of five rivers — Mahanadi, Godavari, Ganga, Brahmani, Narmada — are in Chhattisgarh, and 78 per cent of the state's population lives in Mahanadi basin, which is the lifeline of the state, he said.

There has never been an inter-state agreement between Odisha and Chhattisgarh to share the water resources of the river, although some attempts have been made in the past to resolve the differences over water sharing, he said.

An agreement was signed between the chief ministers of (erstwhile) Madhya Pradesh and Odisha in 1983 on some projects located in the Mahanadi basin area, the official said.

The Odisha government had filed a complaint in 2016 with the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) raising objection over the construction of six barrages for industrial purpose in the upstream and low flow in downstream especially during the lean period, he said.

In 2018, the Centre constituted a three-member tribunal, comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar of the Supreme Court as the chairman and Justices Dr Ravi Ranjan and Indermeet Kaur Kochhar of Patna and Delhi High Courts respectively as members.

The tribunal was constituted following orders of the Supreme Court in a suit filed by the Odisha government seeking to refer the water dispute regarding Mahanadi river and its river valley to a tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.