A dispute over the sharing of water between Chhattisgarh and Odisha over the Mahanadi seems to be finding a possible solution, with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai saying that the issue may get resolved soon.
Speaking to reporters here at Raipur airport on Sunday, just prior to his departure for Odisha, Sai said that talks had taken place recently in Delhi between the chief ministers, officials of the two states along with Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil.
The matter has now been referred to Central Water Commission (CWC) and she updated that a resolution would be soon reached out to a decades-old dispute, she said. Mahanadi is a tributary of the Bay of Bengal, rising in Chhattisgarh and passing through Odisha so the state of sharing and utilisation of the river’s water has been an issue for some years.
During his two-day visit, the Chief Minister will meet with Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to discuss various issues. He will also get a chance to visit the Jagannath Temple in Puri and pray for a prosperous future of Chhattisgarh.
Both the states have different views on the water use of Mahanadi river and various projects in the basin has been a major inter-state water conflict between the two countries for many years. The latest discussions involving the Centre and both state governments indicate an effort to find a mutually acceptable solution.
At the same time, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ at Indore was criticized by Sai. Referring to Gandhi’s visits to different parts of the country, Sai claimed that the Congress suffers politically wherever the Congress leader goes. Similarly, for the party, the situation would repeat in Indore and Madhya Pradesh, he added.
Sai’s visit to Odisha takes a political turn with the comments.The comments bring a political aspect to the conference that is primarily between the two adjoining states and the long pending water dispute over the Mahanadi river.