Bhubaneswar: The second meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the amicable resolution of the Mahanadi water dispute was held on January 17, 2026, at Rajib Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister K. V. Singh Deo.
The meeting was attended by Ministers Suresh Pujari and P. Harichandan, along with MLAs Saroj Kumar Pradhan, Niranjan Pujari and Sofia Firdous. The Advocate General of Odisha was also present, along with senior officers and engineers of the Department of Water Resources, who provided technical and legal inputs during the deliberations.
During the meeting, the Committee held detailed discussions on the challenges faced by Odisha due to the construction of industrial barrages across the main Mahanadi river upstream of the Hirakud reservoir by the State of Chhattisgarh. Members reviewed the current status of proceedings before the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal and examined the broader implications for water availability, irrigation and livelihoods in downstream regions of Odisha.
After deliberations, the Committee agreed that while the legal process before the Tribunal would continue, parallel efforts should be made to explore alternative and amicable solutions to the dispute. Emphasis was laid on initiating dialogue with the Government of Chhattisgarh to address concerns related to upstream interventions on the river.
The Committee also underlined the importance of consultations with various stakeholders within Odisha before formally engaging with the neighbouring state. Such discussions, it noted, would help build a comprehensive and unified approach reflecting the interests of farmers, industries and affected communities.
In this context, the Inter-Ministerial Committee decided to plan a visit to Chhattisgarh in the coming period as part of confidence-building and dialogue-oriented measures aimed at finding a mutually acceptable resolution to the long-pending inter-state water dispute.
