Mahanadi water sharing dispute: Odisha govt’s high-level committee to meet today

A high-level Committee constituted by the Odisha government to address the long-standing Mahanadi water sharing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh will hold its first meeting in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo.

According to official sources, the meeting will focus on deliberations aimed at finding an amicable solution to the inter-state dispute over the sharing of the Mahanadi river water. As the committee includes representatives from all major political parties, there is hope that a broad-based consensus may emerge on the way forward.

The eight-member committee was formed at the direction of the Chief Minister and comprises leaders from the BJP, BJD and Congress. Members of the Committee include Ministers- Suresh Pujari, Prithviraj Harichandan and Sampad Swain, along with MLAs Saroj Pradhan, Niranjan Pujari, Jayanarayan Mishra and Sofia Firdous.

The Committee has been tasked with examining all relevant aspects related to the Mahanadi water issue, including technical, legal and administrative dimensions. It will provide policy-level guidance to strengthen Odisha’s technical and administrative efforts in safeguarding the state’s interests in the dispute.

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Officials said the panel will review past developments, ongoing interventions and future strategies concerning water-sharing and upstream projects in Chhattisgarh that have been a cause of concern for Odisha. The outcome of the deliberations is expected to shape the state’s approach to resolving the dispute through dialogue and appropriate institutional mechanisms.