Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair an October 1 meeting with the Odisha and Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers to discuss equitable sharing of Mahanadi River waters
OdishaPlus Bureau
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on October 1 in a fresh attempt to resolve the long-pending dispute over the sharing of Mahanadi River waters between the two states.
Odisha Advocate General Pitambar Acharya said on Monday that the meeting is expected to take forward discussions on the equitable sharing of Mahanadi waters.
Acharya said the Central Water Commission (CWC), acting on the directions of the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, has submitted details of the last two rounds of discussions between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The tribunal has taken the submissions on record.
“The two chief ministers will now meet under the chairmanship of the Union Home Minister. Odisha has consistently maintained that the dispute can be resolved through mutual understanding,” Acharya said.
The October 1 meeting comes amid ongoing efforts to find a mutually acceptable framework for sharing the waters of the Mahanadi, a river crucial to both states’ agricultural, drinking water and industrial needs.