Centre not party to Mahanadi dispute adjudication as state did not name it

BHUBANESWAR: The Union govt cannot be a party to the ongoing Mahanadi water-sharing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh due to procedural oversight, minister of state for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, told Rajya Sabha Monday. The clarification came in response to BJD MP Sasmit Patra's question about why the Centre is not impleading itself before the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal to expedite the resolution process.
As the long-standing water-sharing dispute between the two states continues to await resolution through the tribunal mechanism, the Union minister explained that the state concerned (in this case Odisha) has to specify parties to the water dispute in its request for the constitution of a tribunal as per Rule 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Rules, 1959, framed under Section 13 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. "The Central Government is not mentioned as a party to the Mahanadi River water disputes in the complaint sent by the state," he said.
The minister said there is no provision in the ISRWD Act 1956 enabling the central govt to become a party before the tribunal for proceedings. The Odisha govt submitted a complaint on Nov 19, 2016, to the Centre on the Mahanadi river water dispute under Section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956. The State of Odisha requested the Union govt for the constitution of a tribunal under Section 4(1) of the said Act for adjudication of the water disputes in respect of the inter-state river Mahanadi and its basin between the riparian states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
After the state's complaint, the Central govt constituted a negotiation committee for the settlement of the dispute through negotiation. The committee submitted its report in May 2017, concluding that the dispute cannot be resolved by negotiation. Odisha filed a petition (original suit) before the Supreme Court. On the direction of the apex court, the Centre formed the panel on March 12, 2018, and referred the matter of the water dispute raised by Odisha to the tribunal in April 2018 for adjudication.