Centre to form tribunal to resolve Mahanadi water dispute

New Delhi: The Centre has decided to form an inter-state river dispute tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water sharing dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
In a written reply to a question by MP AV Swamy in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanjeev Kumar Balyan on Monday said the draft cabinet note for tribunal formation has been prepared.
On November 19 last year, the Odisha government had filed a complaint petition with the central government under Section 3 of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956, alleging less water flow into the state following construction of barrages over the river in the upstream areas of Chhattisgarh.
The ministry through a notification on January 19 constituted the negotiation committee. It comprised of members from the India Meteorological Department and National Institute of Hydrology.
The Union minister said the negotiation committee met twice on February 27 and May 22. However, these meetings yielded no result with nil participation from the complainant state, he added.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court would hear a petition moved by the Odisha government over the dispute on August 2.