State Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal on Tuesday raised reservations over the water level of reservoir under Odisha Government’s project irrigation project on Ib river and said that in this project, 110 hectares of agriculture land of Chhattisgarh is falling under low-lying area.
Hence, affected farmers will become landless after implementation of this project and with that, Chhattisgarh’s total geographical area will also decrease, he said.
The Minister also demanded immediate decision on Chhattisgarh Government’s proposals in interest of its farmers in the inter-State irrigation projects of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the day-long Regional Summit on water resources of eastern States organised in Kolkata .
Union Water Resources Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal presided over the summit .
Agrawal requested Central Water Commission for early sanction of revised input cost of Kelo Extensive Project i.e. Rs 990.34 crore, one of the three irrigation projects Chhattisgarh selected under Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme.
Water Resources ministers of West Bengal and Odisha also attended the summit and representatives of Water Resources departments of Jharkhand and Bihar were also present on the occasion.
In the summit, the Minister presented Chhattisgarh’s stand in the discussions related to the cases of proposed irrigation project on Ib River of Odisha, Telgiri Medium Irrigation Project, Navrangpur Irrigation Project, Khadga Barrage Project, Upper Jonk Inter-State Project (Patora Dam), Indravati Jora Nala dispute, Godavari (Inchampalli)-Kaveri (Grand Anicut) link Project.
Agrawal also talked about Kelo Extensive Project, Middle Kolab Multipurpose Project and Urmal Project (Mainpur, Gariaband district).
He requested to restart the construction of Urmal anicut on Tel River in Mainpur block of Gariaband district. The summit was also attended by Water Resource Department Secretary Sonmoni Borah, Chief Engineer HR Kutare and other senior department officials.
Notably, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation last month had also issued a notification on constituting the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal.
The Tribunal will have its headquarters at Delhi and will have the following members nominated by the Chief Justice of India are Mr Justice AM Khanwilkar, Judge, Supreme Court of India as Chairman, Dr Justice Ravi Ranjan, Judge, Patna High Court as Member, Mrs Justice Indermeet Kaur Kochhar, Judge, Delhi High Court as Member.
The Tribunal has been constituted following orders of the Supreme Court dated January 23, 2018 in a suit filed by the Government of Odisha.
The Government of Odisha had sought to refer the water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi and its river valley to a Tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
Notably, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20 this year had approved the proposal for adjudication of dispute on Mahanadi River waters.
The Tribunal would determine water sharing among basin States on the basis of the overall availability of water in the complete Mahanadi basin, contribution of each State, the present utilisation of water resources in each State and the potential for future development, the Central Government had informed.
It is expected that with adjudication of dispute by the Tribunal, the long-pending dispute between States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Mahanadi river will come to a final settlement, it informed.
As per provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, the Tribunal shall consist of a Chairman and two other Members nominated by the Chief Justice of India from amongst the Judges of the Supreme Court or High Court. Further, services of two Assessors who are water resources experts having experience in handling sensitive water-related issues will be provided to advise the Tribunal in its proceedings, it had informed.