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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Two states and a river: More power or more water? -Amita Bhaduri

Two states and a river: More power or more water? -Amita Bhaduri

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published Published on Nov 27, 2018   modified Modified on Nov 27, 2018
-IndiaWaterPortal.org

The latest addition to India’s interstate river water conflicts, the Mahanadi will soon go water deficit if Odisha and Chhattisgarh don’t control their hunger for coal-fired power.

A new study, Mahanadi: Coal Rich, Water-Stressed sheds light on how both Odisha and Chhattisgarh have locked horns over the distribution of waters of the Mahanadi river. The 851-km-long river originates in the Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, flows through the state and then Odisha before joining the Bay of Bengal at Odisha’s coast. Of late, Odisha has been complaining about the reduced flow of water at the Hirakud dam—Asia’s longest earthen dam—because of the dams and barrages constructed upstream by Chhattisgarh.

“Yet, coal-fired power plants that have put the water resources and people to severe stress have never come up for discussion between the two states. Instead, the state governments are using the river for political mileage and stoke the issue during election times,” says Ranjan Panda, the author of the study while releasing the report at an event in New Delhi recently.

Mahanadi river, local communities gasp for life

The study, undertaken with support from Heinrich Boll Stiftung, India, claims that Chhattisgarh's projects are not the only reason for the decrease in the Mahanadi river's water flow. “An IIT study showed that the water flow has decreased by around 10 percent in the Mahanadi. This is mainly due to the decrease in rainfall caused by climate change. The government's own sources found a substantial increase in the temperature in the Mahanadi basin. Increasing temperatures affect the water retention capability of a river basin. It, therefore, means that one cannot hold the dams and barrages of Chhattisgarh responsible for the decrease in the water flowing to Odisha,” the study says.

Coal-fired plants, the main culprits

Speaking at the event, Panda who is the convener of Water Initiatives Odisha, points to how the two states have been promoting the river as a “water surplus” one and have committed themselves to mining and industrialisation in the name of “development”.

"If Odisha executes its plan to generate 58,000 MW of coal-fired power in the coming decade, the water requirement will be 1,624 MCM per year, which means diverting that water from 3,24,800 hectares of farmland. If we factor in domestic water requirement too, then the plants will be using about 32.5 percent more water than is required for domestic use,” the report says. Coal-fired power plants are a major guzzler and have put water resources to stress in the Mahanadi basin. “In all these, the real issues faced by people affected by mining and thermal power plants have been put on the backburner,” adds Panda.  

Please click here to read more.

IndiaWaterPortal.org, 25 November, 2018, http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/two-states-and-river-more-power-or-more-water


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