Bansadhara Water Dispute: Tribunal Asks AP, Odisha To Set Up Joint Technical Panel

New Delhi: The Bansadhara Water Disputes Tribunal on Tuesday asked Andhra Pradesh and Odisha governments to set up a joint technical committee to resolve the issue.

The committee, comprising senior engineers of both the states as members, will have a meeting on the Neredi and Katragada projects on January 28 and submit a joint report to the Tribunal within a week. On the basis of the report, the Tribunal will have a series of hearings on March 5&6 and April 2, 3&4.

It may be mentioned here that the Odisha government had filed a review petition on the verdict of Bansadhara River Water Disputes Tribunal on September 13, 2017, which was in favour of the Andhra Pradesh government. Hearing the petition on December 5, 2018, Chairman of the Tribunal Justice Mukumdakam Sharma and the two members of the Tribunal had decided to go on a field visit to the affected areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

The Odisha government had earlier filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court to direct the Andhra Pradesh government to use the Bansadhara river water after it reaches 8000 cusecs and above, take the necessary steps to stop artificial flooding and provide compensation to displaced families.

The Bansadhara river, which originates at Tentuligada village in Kalahandi district has a total catchment area of 10,830 sq km of which, 8960 sq km is in Odisha. The total length of the river, which falls into the Bay of Bengal, is about 254 km with a stretch of about 155 km in Odisha.

While the Andhra Pradesh government has built two barrages on the river at Gotta and Hiramandalam, construction of another barrage at Neredi had begun when NT Rama Rao was the Chief Minister. But the project was stopped due to vehement opposition by the Odisha government. However, the neighbouring state has built another barrage at Katragada, about one km from Neredi and the construction work is in the last phase.
While the case is sub-judice, the Andhra Pradesh government has spent Rs 1020 crore on the construction of the barrage and rehabilitated the displaced families by providing compensation to them.