Odisha asks Chhattisgarh stop construction on Mahanadi

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has asked the Chhattisgarh government to stop construction activities in the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi river immediately.

Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi has sent a letter to Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand to stop constructions on Mahanadi river.

Padhi asked to immediately stop construction and operation of seven ongoing projects like Kalo, Arpa, Sondhar, Sukhanalla, Ghumariya,  Mongra II, and Samodanisda II.

The move of the state government came after it filed a petition with the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) seeking to constitute a tribunal to resolve the inter-state water dispute.

Odisha on 19 November has filed a complaint under Section 3 of the Interstate River Water disputes Act, 1956 seeking constitution of a Tribunal for adjudication of the water disputes emerging due to unilateral action was taken by the Chhattisgarh Government.

Padhi pointed out that the Government of Chhattisgarh has planned for utilization of 27.48 Million Acre Feet (MAF) water from Mahanadi.

This is far in excess from the equitable share of Chhattisgarh in the water of river Mahanadi, which is only 8.3 MAF, said Padhi.

The Chief Secretary reminded that Chhattisgarh’s share in Mahanadi water is not more than 8.3 MAF in the minimum flow of 20.61 MAF as assessed way back in 1945 and 2.5 MAF in the surplus flow as total surplus flow annually is 6.17 MAF.

So the excess utilization of 16.65 MAF of water under the existing, ongoing and future expansion of the projects has affected Odisha. And in future, it is likely to affect the equitable share of Odisha, said Padhi.