Mahanadi row: Odisha drags Chhattisgarh to Supreme Court

Earlier, the Odisha govt had filed a statutory complaint with the Centre under Section 3 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act

The feud between two sparring states — Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of Mahanadi river waters has now reached the Supreme Court. 

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a statement to the Odisha legislative assembly said: “The state has filed an original suit in the Supreme Court under Article  131 of  the Constitution of  India on December 2,  2016, seeking an injunction against the state of Odisha from continuing with the construction of ongoing projects and from taking up future projects.’’

As part of its equitable share, the Odisha government has claimed a minimum flow of 12.28 million acre feet of Mahanadi water at Hirakud dam as per the detailed  project report (DPR) of the Hirakud project of  1947 and a further utilisation of 3.67 million acre feet in the surplus flow. 

Earlier, the Odisha government had filed a statutory complaint with the central government under Section 3 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956, for the constitution of an inter-state tribunal to adjudicate water disputes arising out of unilaterally planned utilisation of 27.48 million acre feet of Mahanadi water by the Chhattisgarh government. This is against the total availability of minimum flow in Mahanadi river of 20.61 million acre feet only. 

Odisha is opposing the construction of barrages in the upper catchment areas of the Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh government on the ground that it will affect Odisha's farmers.