The Great River that once brought sorrow to Odisha is now a contested lifeline.

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Spanning 560 miles, the Mahanadi River is a vital artery of central India. Once feared for the devastating floods that earned it the title 'the sorrow of Odisha,' the river is now tamed by massive dams. Today, it sits at the center of an acrimonious water-sharing dispute between two Indian states.

The Mahanadi, or 'Great River,' rises in the hills of Chhattisgarh and flows eastward across the Indian subcontinent to the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the most active silt-depositing streams in the region, a characteristic that historically caused periodic, catastrophic flooding in the Odisha delta. To mitigate this, the multipurpose Hirakud Dam was commissioned; its first concrete was laid in 1948 by Jawaharlal Nehru, and it became fully operational by 1990. The dam serves as a critical tool for flood control, irrigation, and power generation, supporting two stations with a combined capacity of 347.5 megawatts.

Beyond its utility, the river sustains a complex ecosystem. The Hirakud reservoir nourishes a biodiverse habitat home to over 130 bird species and more than 50 fish species. Upstream, other infrastructure projects like the Gangrel and Dudhawa dams in Chhattisgarh further regulate the flow, providing water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial needs, including a major steel plant at Bhilai. These developments have transformed the river's character, turning a once-unpredictable, monsoon-fed torrent into a managed, seasonal waterway.

However, this transformation has sparked significant political friction. Since 2016, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have been locked in a bitter dispute over water rights. Odisha alleges that Chhattisgarh has constructed unauthorized barrages and dams that reduce the flow into the Hirakud reservoir, threatening downstream irrigation and environmental integrity. In 2018, a government-appointed tribunal was established to arbitrate these claims. The conflict highlights the tension between the competing needs of states sharing a single basin, where the same infrastructure that provides security for one region can be perceived as an existential threat to another.

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