Mahanadi May Cease To Exist In Odisha Before Tribunal Verdict, Fears BJD Leader

Bhubaneswar: After Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi was appointed as the new Chairperson of the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Prasanna Acharya on Saturday feared that by the time the Tribunal gives its verdict, Mahanadi may lose its existence in Odisha.

Reacting to the appointment of the new chairperson, Acharya said, “The Tribunal is likely to have fresh hearing of the water dispute from the beginning again, which will require more time. By the time, it gives its verdict, River Mahanadi, which is the lifeline of Odisha, may be extinct.”

He added, “Without normal water flow in Mahanadi, water scarcity in Odisha will be severe. Dearth of water will severely affect agriculture and economy of the state. It will also have adverse impact on the social system.”

The BJD veteran further stated, “Repeated appeals and meetings with Chhattisgarh government and the Centre on the Mahanadi water dispute, have yielded nothing. It is high time the ‘triple-engine’ BJP government pay attention to Odisha’s repeated appeals on the Mahanadi water dispute and solve the issue permanently.”

Worth mentioning that Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in 2018 by the directive of the Supreme Court to address contentious water-sharing disagreements between the neighboring states. But the post of the Chairperson of the Tribunal was lying vacant for more than last 7 months.

In 2018, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation formed the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal

The Tribunal was constituted following orders of the Supreme Court dated January 23, 2018 in a suit filed by the government of Odisha. The Odisha government then headed by the BJD, had sought to refer the water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi and its river valley to a Tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

The ongoing dispute concerns the allocation of water from the Mahanadi River and its extensive basin, a critical resource for the region’s agriculture and livelihoods. Odisha’s intent was to secure a more equitable distribution of the river water, reflecting the state’s proactive approach in handling inter-state water conflicts, it is learnt.