Bhubaneswar: The Joint Technical Committees (JTC) of Odisha and Chhattisgarh are slated to hold another meeting on Friday as part of the ongoing exercise aimed at resolving the long-standing Mahanadi water dispute, the state Assembly was informed on Thursday.
Sharing this information, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling also presented a broad outline of the discussions held so far between the two states to settle the Mahanadi water dispute. The JTC meeting tomorrow follows several le rounds of inter-state engagement over the past four months.
Speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, he said that officials from both states have held six JTC meetings already, with the upcoming round expected to review technical submissions, flow data and compliance points raised in earlier sittings.
Following informal talks between Chief Ministers of the two states, the Chief Secretaries had held a meeting in New Delhi on August 30, this year. Another review between the Chief Secretaries was held on November 10, maintaining the momentum ahead of tomorrow’s technical negotiations, said Mahaling.
Apart from the JTC process, the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal is set to conduct its next hearing on December 20. The Odisha government has conveyed this schedule officially in the Assembly, noting that submissions from the technical committee meetings will feed into the ongoing tribunal proceedings.
Stating that the Centre has taken serious note of the dispute, the Minister said that the forthcoming hearing will review data and affidavits filed by both states.
