By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a negotiation committee to assess availability and utilisation of water of Mahanadi and its tributaries.

The committee will also examine existing water sharing agreements on river Mahanadi and will consider claims of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand regarding availability and utilisation of waters of these rivers.

The committee has been set up after complaint by Odisha Government under section 3 of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act (IRWDA) 1956 regarding utilisation of water of Mahanadi Basin. The committee will be headed by member (Water Planning and Projects), Central Water Commission (CWC) and will have 11 other members comprising representatives from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Union Ministries of Agriculture, Environment Forest and Climate Change, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, India Meteorological Department and Central Water Commission (CWC). The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months. According to a written reply given by chief minister Naveen Patnaik in the winter session of the assembly in December, 2016 monsoon and non-monsoon flow of water in Mahanadi river has gone down over the years.

The monsoon flow in Mahanadi has come down from 26.15 million acre feet in 2005 to 13.24 million acre feet in 2015. Similarly, the non-monsoon flow of water in the river on the Odisha side has come down from 2.15 million acre feet in 2005-06 to 1.21 million acre feet in 2014-15. There are several tributaries of Mahanadi river like Aung, Tel, Jeera, Harihar Jor and Brutang which contribute to monsoon and non-monsoon flow.

The monsoon flow of Mahanadi at Munduli has also come down from 41.21 million acre feet in 2005 to 22.91 million acre feet in 2015. Similarly, the non-monsoon flow at Munduli came down from 3.71 million acre feet in 2005 to 2.28 acre feet in 2015. The State Government has filed a statutory complaint before the Centre on November 22 under provisions of the Inter State Water Disputes Act,1956 for constitution of an inter-state tribunal to adjudicate the disputes arising from unilatarally planned utilisation of 27.48 million acre feet of Mahanadi water by the Chhattisgarh Government as against availability of minimum flow of 20.61 million acre feet.

The State Government has claimed as a part of its equitable share of a minimum flow of 12.28 million acre feet of Mahanadi water at Hirakud Dam as per the DPR of Hirakud project of 1947 and a further utilisation of 3.67 million acre feet in the surplus flows.