Decode Politics: The Odisha-Chhattisgarh fight over the Mahanadi river and why it is heating up again
A high-level committee comprising BJP, Congress and BJD MLAs, and headed by Odisha Deputy CM K V Singh Deo, is likely to travel to Chhattisgarh around January 31.
In August last year, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi had written to his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai on the issue. The Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) threat of a pan-Odisha protest against the alleged inaction of the BJP governments in the state and the Centre, and a last-minute cancellation of a January 23 all-party meeting, has brought back into focus the state’s dispute with Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi, the state’s largest river considered its lifeline.
What is the dispute and the politics around it?
Odisha, which is located downstream of the Mahanadi, has locked horns over water sharing with Chhattisgarh, which is situated on the river’s upstream.
Odisha alleged that Chhattisgarh “unilaterally constructed” barrages along the river, affecting its flow into the state during the non-Monsoon period.
In September 2016, the Narendra Modi government tried to resolve the issue with a tripartite meeting attended by then Chief Ministers Naveen Patnaik of Odisha and Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh. The meeting was headed by then Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.
However, the Patnaik government accused the Centre of siding with Chhattisgarh, which was under BJP rule. The BJD pressed for a legal solution to the problem and also sought the setting up of a tribunal to resolve the issue.
Considering the importance of the Mahanadi, which traverses nearly 500 km in the state, the BJP in Odisha has also preferred to solve the issue through dialogue. The BJD has raised the issue to target the BJP and hit the streets in the past, while projecting Patnaik as someone who fought to secure the state’s interests in the matter.
Has the matter reached courts?
The issue reached the Supreme Court in December 2016 after the then BJD government filed an original suit under Article 131, seeking an injunction against Chhattisgarh to prevent it from constructing barrages along the river.
The Odisha government’s move came barely a month after it filed a statutory complaint with the Centre, demanding a tribunal under the Interstate Water Dispute Act, 1956.
Hailing the top court’s January 2018 directive to the Centre to form a tribunal within a month as a “moral victory”, the BJD and Patnaik claimed it only vindicated the Odisha government’s stance.
On the other hand, Chhattisgarh was in favour of a joint control board (JCB) supervising projects on the river, in accordance with a 1983 agreement between Odisha and Madhya Pradesh (out of which Chhattisgarh was carved out in 2000.
In March 2018, the Centre constituted a three-member Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal with then Supreme Court judge Justice A M Khanwilkar as its chairman. The panel has got multiple extensions, the latest till April 2026. Following Khanwilkar’s resignation in March 2024, the committee is currently headed by Supreme Court judge Justice Bela Trivedi.
Blaming the previous BJD governments for taking stands which benefitted Chhattisgarh, state Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari has sought a nine-month extension for the tribunal.
Has a new government led to a change in Odisha’s stance?
Sticking to its earlier stand of an amicable resolution to the problem, CM Mohan Charan Majhi last August wrote to his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai last August seeking a “mutually beneficial settlement”. Sai reciprocated saying the proposal was “under active consideration”.
The Manjhi-led BJP government also formed a high-level committee headed by Deputy CM K V Singh Deo and comprising MLAs from the BJP, BJD and Congress. The panel was tasked with providing guidance to the government to resolve the issue. It had also decided that a team will visit Chhattisgarh around January 31 to hold discussions on the issue.
How important is the Mahanadi?
According to official data, the river has a total catchment area of 1,41,600 sq km of which 45.73% falls in Odisha, 53.9% in Chhattisgarh and a small patch in Madhya Pradesh.
Given the massive flooding that the river caused, Odisha in 1953 constructed a massive 25-km earthen dam at Hirakud in Sambalpur district to reserve water for irrigating the western part of the state and for power generation.
The river serves as a major source of water for agriculture, industry and hydropower generation in Odisha.
What have the BJD, Congress said on the issue?
Following a meeting of the party’s political affairs committee, senior BJD leader Sanjay Das Burma said the party would soon launch an agitation to expose the Centre’s “conspiracy” to deprive Odisha from getting its rightful share of water and also the “inaction” of the Majhi government.
State Congress president Bhakta Charam Das said the Majhi-led Odisha government has clearly shown that it cannot solve the water dispute.
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