First meeting of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Mahanadi inter-state water dispute held

Bhubaneswar: The first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Mahanadi interstate water issues was held today at Rajiv Bhawan, Department of Water Resources, under the Chairmanship of K.V. Singh Deo, Deputy Chief Minister.

The said meeting was attended by Ministers Suresh Pujari, Prithviraj Harichandan and Sampad Chandra Swain; MLAs Saroj Kumar Pradhan, Niranjan Pujari and Sofia Firdous. MLA, Jayanarayan Mishra, participated in the meeting virtually. Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg along with the concerned officers and engineers of Department of Water Resources were also present in the meeting to give necessary inputs to the committee.

During the meeting, preliminary discussions were held on the Hirakud Project, the historical background of the Mahanadi water dispute, the current status of proceedings before the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, the process of amicable settlement of Mahanadi-related issues, and the overall status of matters pertaining to the Mahanadi basin.

It was decided the next meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee shall be convened in January 2026 to further consolidate the position of the State of Odisha and to advance the process towards an amicable settlement of the Mahanadi water issues.