Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: The Centre today formed a negotiations committee to assess the availability and utilisation of waters of the Mahanadi and its tributaries with a view to resolve the river row.

The committee will also examine the existing water sharing agreements on the Mahanadi and consider the claims of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand on its waters.

It has been set up in the backdrop of Odisha's complaint to the Centre about utilisation of water in the Mahanadi basin under Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956. The state has objected to the Chhattisgarh's construction of barrages in the Mahanadi upstream on the ground that it would affect the water flow into Odisha, especially the Hirakud dam.

The Naveen Patnaik government has demanded the constitution of a tribunal to settle its dispute with Chhattisgarh.

The committee, to be chaired by member (water planning and projects) of the Central Water Commission, will have 11 members consisting of representatives from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Union ministries of agriculture, environment forest and climate change, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, India Meteorological Department and the Central Water Commission. The panel has been asked to submit its report within three months, an official announcement said.

Former chief engineer (upper Mahanadi basin) Sudhakar Patri hailed the committee formation as a positive step, saying it could help resolve the dispute over the sharing of river's water between Odisha and Chhattisgarh. "The tribunal being a judicial body could take a long time. If this committee could find a way out, there will be no need for the tribunal. In any case, it has become necessary to assess the availability and utilisation of the Mahanadi waters by various states," said Patri.

While BJD leaders such as former minister P.K. Deb and Rajya Sabha member Narendra Swain were guarded in their reactions, saying they would need to know the technical details of the move before offering their opinion, state BJP leaders described it as a concrete step towards resolving the vexed issue.

"In a federal system, such moves are key to resolving disputes. The step should be welcomed unless someone is interested only in keeping the issue alive with political motive," said BJP national secretary Suresh Pujari.

BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said the Centre was keen not only to resolve the dispute, but also to ensure that the interests of Odisha were not affected in any manner. "We all want that the state get its due. But, the ruling party should refrain from politicising the issue," he said.

The BJD, on the other hand, has been trying to build pressure on the Centre and the Chhattisgarh government to stop constructions in the Mahanadi upstream. While the party has stuck to its demands for a tribunal, on November 11 last year, it launched a signature campaign from Cuttack to create awareness on the issue. The campaign had followed the failure of Naveen's tripartite meeting with Union water resources minister Uma Bharti and his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Raman Singh, on September 17 in Delhi to resolve the dispute. He had even sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the matter.

The issue is extremely sensitive for Odisha considering that the river constitutes the lifeline for the people residing in 17 of its 30 districts. The Odisha government is upset, as Chhattisgarh has taken up construction of several major and medium projects in the Mahanadi upstream without consulting the state.