Mahanadi water dispute: Joint technical committees of Odisha, C’sgarh to meet tomorrow, tribunal hearing on Dec 20

Talks on resolving the long-running Mahanadi water dispute are set to advance further, with the Joint Technical Committees (JTC) of Odisha and Chhattisgarh scheduled to meet again on Friday. The information was shared by Odisha Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling in the state assembly on Thursday.

According to official records placed in the House, this latest JTC meeting follows multiple rounds of inter-state engagement over the past four months. Minister Mahaling, responding on behalf of the Chief Minister in the House, confirmed the schedule and outlined the chronology of discussions undertaken so far.

Series Of Top-Level Engagements

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, informed the minister.

The process was preceded by an informal interaction between the two Chief Ministers, followed by a formal meeting between the Chief Secretaries of Odisha and Chhattisgarh in New Delhi on August 30, this year.

A subsequent review between the Chief Secretaries was held again on November 10, maintaining the momentum ahead of tomorrow’s technical negotiations, he added.

Tribunal Hearing On December 20

Parallel to 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.

Minister Mahaling told the House that the Centre has taken “serious note” of the dispute and that the forthcoming hearing will review data and affidavits filed by both states.

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The Mahanadi dispute centres on Odisha’s allegations of reduced downstream flow due to upstream interventions by Chhattisgarh, with both states presenting technical assessments, hydrological data and compliance documentation before the tribunal.

Tomorrow’s JTC meeting is expected to consolidate the latest technical inputs and map pending issues requiring tribunal adjudication.