Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal

The Government of Odisha had filed a complaint dated 19.11.2016 with the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Reiuvenation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) under Section 3 of the lnter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956 read with lnter-State River Water Dispute Rules, 1959. The Government of Odisha requested Union Government to constitute a Tribunal under Section 4(1) of the ISRWD Act, 1956 for adjudication of water disputes in respect of river Mahanadi and its basin between the riparian States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh and refer the complaint to the Tribunal under Section 5(1) of the ISRWD Act, 1956.The Central Government constituted a Negotiation Committee for settlement of the dispute through negotiation. The Negotiation Committee submitted its report in May, 2017 in which it mentioned that that any further meetings of this Committee would not be fruitful as there had been no participation from complainant State i.e. State of Odisha in the meetings. Accordingly, it was concluded that the dispute cannot be resolved by negotiation.Subsequently, the Central Government constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal vide Notification No 1114 (E) dated 12.03.2018. In this connection, Reference was made by the Central Government to the Tribunal on 17.04.2018 as per provisions under sub-section (1) of the section 5 of the ISRWD Act, 1956. The matter is under adjudication before the Tribunal. Further, the Central Government, vide Notification No. S.O. No. 2176 (E) dated 3rd June, 2021, extended the period of submission of report and decision by the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal for a period of two years upto 11th March, 2023 or till the submission of report and decision under sub-section (2) of section 5 of the said Act, whichever is earlier.