Mahanadi Row: Odisha, Chhattisgarh Silent On Outcome Of Meeting

New Delhi: Officials from both Odisha and Chhattisgarh remained tight-lipped on the outcome of a meeting they had at the Supreme Court premises on Monday on sharing of Mahanadi river waters.

“Sorry, we will not say anything on this matter as this is an affair of the Tribunal. Whatever we have discussed will be communicated to the Tribunal,” Water Resources secretary of Odisha, Pradip Jena told journalists after the meeting.

Sources said the release of non-monsoon water to Odisha was discussed at the meeting, which was attended by senior engineers, lawyers and secretaries from both states.

The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal had on February 9 directed Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments to amicably resolve the water-sharing row.

The three-member bench of Tribunal chairperson Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Indermit Kaur, while hearing the interim application of the Odisha government, directed both states to file a written submission in two weeks.

The bench made it clear that if the two states are not arriving at an amicable solution to the issue, it will pronounce its final judgment during the next hearing on March 9.

The Odisha government, in its interim application to the Tribunal, had demanded the release of 1.74 million acre-feet of water by Chhattisgarh during the non-monsoon season.