Bhubaneswar: The state government has decided to form a House
committee to resolve the water-sharing dispute between Odisha and
Chhattisgarh governments, informed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on
Thursday.
Following an all-party meeting, chaired by Odisha Assembly Speaker
Pradip Amat, the Chief Minister said, “We had a meeting in
the Speaker’s chamber about the Mahanadi issue. It was decided to form
a House committee to chalk out strategies to solve the problem and
protect the rights of the people of the state. We seek cooperation
from all political parties in this regard.”
The meeting was necessitated in view of the Centre’s denial to
constitute a tribunal to resolve the long-standing issue and protect
the rights of the people of the state.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra and representatives of other political parties attended the meeting.
On Wednesday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that there was no need
to form an inter-state tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute.
In an affidavit submitted to the apex court, the Centre blamed the Odisha
government for its alleged failure in providing relevant facts and
figures required for formation of a tribunal.
“The Centre has stated that the long-standing issue can be sorted out
mutually through negotiation. Detailed information relating to total
crop requirement, water requirement and basin area are needed to
constitute a tribunal, but the Odisha government has failed to provide the
same”, the Union government’s counsel Wasim A Kadri was reported to have said.
