Mahanadi water dispute: Gadkari proposes control board for early resolution of the issue

BHUBANESHWAR: As the Mahanadi river water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh seems to be a long drawn out affair, union minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has appealed to chief minister Naveen Patnaik to initiate early action for formation of a control board for early resolution of the issue.

The memorandum of agreement (MoA) between Madhya Pradesh and Odisha signed on April 27, 1983, clearly provides for a mechanism to resolve the issue through the formation of a joint control board, Gadkari said in a letter to the chief minister. “This MoA has not been rescinded and a joint control board is yet to be constituted,” Gadkari said and appealed to the chief minister to initiate early action for formation of the control board.

The union minister said similar boards have also set up based on agreements between the party states such as the Betwa River Board on Betwa river between Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and Bansagar Board on Sone river among Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Stating that the experience of inter-state river water disputes tribunals has not been satisfactory as in most of the cases it has been a long drawn out affair and lingered on for years, Gadkari said only in three (on Narmada, Godavari and Krishna) out of eight tribunals formed so far have given awards accepted by the party states. In Ravi-Beas and Cauvery, matters have been pending in the tribunals for over 30 and 27 years respectively without any resolution in sight, he said.

The union minister, however, said Centre has decided to amend certain provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (ISRWD Act) to settle the disputes expeditiously and in a time bound manner. A Bill, the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 14, 2017, and referred to the parliamentary standing committee on water resources.

Gadkari said the report of the standing committee has been received and in the light of its recommendation, necessary modifications have been carried out in the Bill. The Bill has not been submitted to the ministry of law and justice for vetting. “The Centre is of the opinion that ongoing and future disputes should be referred to the tribunal under the amended Act as this provides for time-bound resolution of the matter,” he said.

The union minister has proposed to discuss the issue with Odisha and Chhattisgarh chief ministers to make another effort to resolve the dispute in the spirit cooperative federalism. “I request you to communicate a date convenient to you for the discussion so that I am able to fix the meeting at the earliest in consultation with the chief minister of Chhattisgarh,” he said.