Lok Sabha Question No. 354 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-17
Subject: Construction of Projects on Mahanadi River by Chhattisgarh
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES,

## RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 354 ANSWERED ON 17.11.2016

## CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTS ON MAHANADI RIVER BY CHHATTISGARH

## 354. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB

Will the Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  of  Odisha  has  raised  certain  objections  to  the  Union  Government  on  the projects being constructed by the Government of Chhattisgarh across Mahanadi river in the recent past;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the action taken/being taken by the Union Government to address the said objections so far;
- (c)  whether the Government of Chhattisgarh has violated any norms of the Agreement of 1983 signed between the two States;
- (d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reasons  therefor  along  with  the  action  taken/  being  taken  by  the Union Government to restore such violated terms and conditions of the said agreement; and
- (e) the mechanism developed by the Union Government to ensure adherence to the terms and conditions of the agreement by the States sharing river water or to avoid river disputes across the country along with the other steps taken/being taken by the Government in this direction?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  &  GANGA REJUVENATION (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

- (a)&(b)  The  Government  of  Odisha  had  raised  certain  objections  over  construction  of  barrages, &reservoir structures taken up by Chhattisgarh.  An Inter State meeting was held on 29/07/2016 chaired by Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to MoWR, RD & GR with the Chief Secretaries of the two States, to resolve  the  issues.  Subsequently,  a  meeting  was  chaired  by  Minister  MoWR,  RD  &  GR  with  Chief Ministers  of  concerned  States  on  17/09/2016  to  resolve  water  resources  issues/Projects  in  Mahanadi Basin between the two States.
- (c) to (e)   In the inter-State meeting of 19/09/2016, it was decided to form a Special Committee as well as an Expert Committee, as suggested by Govt. of Odisha.  The Ministry constituted two Teams from CWC (one for each State) to visit and list out the water resources project in Odisha and Chhattisgarh those  have  been  constructed  or  are  under  construction  without  the  approval  of  Technical  Advisory Committee  (TAC)  of  MoWR,RD  &GR.  While  relevant  information  from  Chhattisgarh  has  been received, information from Odisha has not been received.

This Ministry vide letter dated 22.09.2016 has sent the proposed composition of Expert Committee for suggesting  measures  for  monitoring  the  issues  on  Mahanadi,  Term  of  Reference  were  sent  to Government of Odisha and Chhattisgarh for their consent. Government of Chhattisgarh has nominated the representative for the Expert Committee. A reminder dated 8.11.2016 was also sent to Government of Odisha, however, the response of Government of Odisha has not been received.