Mahanadi dispute: Board should be formed to resolve issues, says Chhattisgarh CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday laid stress on the need to form a board to resolve the inter-state water dispute with Odisha.

"They (Odisha) are concerned about the water for a power plant. The agreement which was made 60-75 years ago, in which a suggestion was made by Arjun ji and Lt. Patnaiak ji to form a board to resolve this interstate dispute has not been formed yet, nor the discussion took place about it. It is important to make the board so that there is no need to call ministers of both the states every time and things can be resolved," Singh said.

Singh said he was surprised to see the of the Mahanadi water being raised, when the amount of water being released from the Mahanadi river for the Hirakud dam (situated in Odisha) is so much that it could fill the entire dam five times.

The tripartite meeting between the Centre, Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi water issue was held in New Delhi today, which was chaired by Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.

After the meeting Uma Bharati informed that a committee will be made within one week to examine all aspects, including studying the river basin.

Odisha has accused Chhattisgarh of not consulting it while building seven to eight barrages on the Mahanadi, saying that it is affecting the flow of the river.

The Chhattisgarh Government has questioned Odisha's objection to the barrages, saying the barrages are not at all hampering flow.

There has been a demand from Odisha to set up a tribunal to look into the water-sharing issue.