Lok Sabha Question No. 2488 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-16
Subject: Construction of Projects on Mahanadi River by Chhattisgarh
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2488

ANSWERED ON 16.03.2017

## CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTS ON MAHANADI RIVER BY CHHATTISGARH

## 2488. SHRI NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN

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 and to avoid river disputes across the country along with the other steps taken/ being taken by the Government in this regard?

## 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 17.09.2016, 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  which  have  been constructed or are under construction without the approval of the 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  communicated  the  proposed  composition  of  Expert Committee and Terms of Reference for suggesting measures for monitoring the issues on Mahanadi.  While the Government of Chhattisgarh has nominated their representative on the Expert Committee, Government of Odisha has not nominated their representative on the Expert Committee so far. A reminder dated 08.11.2016 was also sent to Government of Odisha.  However, the response of Government of Odisha has not yet been received.

On the request of Government of Odisha  for constitution of a Tribunal under section 3 of the ISWD Act,  1956,  the  Central  Government  in  accordance  with  section  4  (1)  of  the  ISRWD  Act,  1956  have constituted a Negotiation Committee vide Ministry's OM dated 19.01.2017.

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