Bhubaneswar/Calcutta: The Odisha government on Monday defended its stand on the Mahanadi dispute at the regional conference convened by the ministry of water resources in Calcutta.

The Odisha government accused Chhattisgarh of closing the gates of the barrages it had constructed in the upstream of the river, thus reducing its flow in the lower Mahanadi basin.

Union minister of state for water resources Arjun Ram Meghwal had convened a meeting with the ministers and high-level officials of five eastern states of Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Food supplies and consumer welfare minister Surjya Narana Patro, who represented Odisha at the meet, said: "We also mentioned how despite restrictions imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Chhattisgarh government floated tenders for the construction of Mohamela-Siripur barrage.

The Chhattisgarh government has already constructed seven to eight barrages. The state has suffered a lot as Chhattisgarh has closed down a number of gates on the barrages built in the upstream of Mahanadi."

He added: "We also raised the issue concerning Brahmani and Indravati rivers."

The state also wanted to know from the Union minister why the terms of references for the newly constituted tribunal on Mahanadi has not been communicated to it so far. The state also raised the issue of illegal lifting of sand from the banks of Subarnarekha river.

Sources said the Chhattisgarh government rejected Odisha's complaint and said it had not shut the gates of the barrages. It also clarified that it had floated the tender for Mohamela-Siripur barrage before the NGT imposed restrictions.

"The Supreme Court has already constituted a tribunal to solve the water dispute. I hope all the problem will be sorted out," Chhattisgarh water resources minister Brijmohan Agrawal said.

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said: "The conference will address the concerns of the states. The proposed single national tribunal for settling inter-state water disputes would expedite resolutions and facilitate irrigation facilities across the country."

At present, there are separate tribunals for the Cauvery, the Narmada, the Krishna and other rivers in the country and the formation of the Mahanadi tribunal is in process, he said. "Instead of having so many tribunals, a single national tribunal has been proposed in the Inter-state River Disputes Act Amendment Bill, 2017, which has already been placed in the Lok Sabha," he said.