Orissa, C’garh board on river

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments on Friday agreed at a high- level meeting in New Delhi to set up a joint control board ( JCB) to settle the Mahanadi river water dispute. The meeting, attended by chief secretaries and concerned officials of the two states, was chaired by Union water resources secretary Sashi Sekhar. After the meeting, Chhattisgarh chief secretary Vivek Dhand told reporters that a JCB would be set up very soon. “In case of any dispute between the two states, the board’s decision will be final. In 1983, such a board was proposed between then MP CM Arjun Singh and his Orissa counterpart J. B. Patnaik.