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Odisha rejects Centre's negotiation committee on Mahanadi

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Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi today that Odisha government has rejected the Centre’s negotiation committee on Mahanadi river water dispute with Chhattisgarh.

Patnaik in his letter, however, said he was open to attending a meeting at the prime minister’s level as a last chance to settle the river water dispute through dialogue.

“My government rejects the Negotiation Committee and request your good self to instruct the Central Government (Ministry of WR, RD &GR) to withdraw the Office Memorandum dated January 19, 2017 constituting the committee and initiate the constitution of Tribunal as the water dispute raised in the statutory complaint of my government dated November 19, 2016 cannot be resolved by negotiation,” Patnaik wrote.

Pending formation of the tribunal, he requested the prime minister that Chhattisgarh be immediately directed to stop works of the ongoing project on Mahanadi basin.

“However, as a last and final chance to settle the dispute by negotiation, I am open to attend a meeting at your level, if the meeting of the chief ministers of the riparian states is called immediately,” Patnaik mentioned in the letter to the prime minister.

Noting that the negotiation committee would only delay the setting up of the tribunal as demanded by Odisha, Patnaik said the state would allow Chhattisgarh to complete the construction of the disputed projects.

On Odisha’s rejection of the negotiation committee, Patnaik said, “The committee is not in accordance with the provisions of Sec 4(1) of the Inter-State Rover Water Dispute Act of 1956 and its composition is arbitrary.” The provisions of the Act of 1965 put responsibility on the central government to negotiate after receiving complaints and in this regard the principle of federal relations mandated that the constitutional functionaries namely the prime minister or Union minister for water resources conduct negotiations with the chief ministers of the riparian states rather than appointing a committee headed by an officer of the subordinate office namely Central Water Commission, he said.

“In fact, recognising this constitutional position, Uma Bharati, Union Minister of Water Resources had called a meeting of the chief ministers of the riparian states on September 17, 2016 at New Delhi. However, Bharati could not successfully mediate, particularly by failing to direct the state of Chhattisgarh from going ahead with construction of ongoing disputed projects in the Mahanadi basin,” Patnaik’s letter said. (MORE)

(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

Source: dnaindia.com