Government constitutes negotiation committee on Mahanadi and its Tributaries

The Union Ministry of Water Resources has constituted negotiations committee to assess availability and utilisation of waters of Mahanadi and its tributaries to resolve disputes over sharing of river waters among five states.

These five states are Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

The committee will be chaired by member (water planning and projects) of the Central Water Commission (CWC). It will have 11 other members comprising representatives from the state governments.

Key Points

The committee will also examine existing water sharing agreements on river Mahanadi and will consider claims of the 5 states regarding availability and utilisation of waters of these rivers.

It has been set up with reference to complaint of State of Odisha under section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956 regarding utilisation of waters of Mahandi Basin.

It will also have member representatives of Union Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, India Meteorological Department and CWC.

Current Affairs 21st January, 2017
Current Affairs Round Up Bullet Points, December, 2016