Mahanadi River Water Row: Tribunal Visits Hirakud Dam In Odisha’s Sambalpur

Sambalpur: The Mahanadi River Water Disputes Tribunal undertook a field visit to the Hirakud dam in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Saturday.

Members of the tribunal are examining and assessing the situation on the ground by undertaking field survey amid the ongoing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the sharing of Mahanadi river water.

Headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar of the Supreme Court, the tribunal is on a ten-day field visit to Odisha for undertaking field survey in at least 30 locations. The team includes Justices Dr Ravi Ranjan and Indermeet Kaur Kochhar of Patna and Delhi High Courts respectively as members. The Central government had constituted the three-member Tribunal in 2018.

Apart from the members of the Tribunal, officials of the Water Resources departments, technical teams and law experts from both Odisha and Chhattisgarh are part of the team. They visited Sambalpur to take stock of the dam and conduct a detailed study on the flow of water.

The team is slated to visit Chiplima Powerhouse, Attabira Branch Canal and Sasan Canal tomorrow. On May 22, the team will further visit Ib Thermal Power Station and dam project site in Jharsuguda and Sundargarh. Thereafter, the tribunal will visit Upper Jonk dam site in Nuapada district.

Earlier this month, the tribunal had visited the Kalma Barrage and Kelo project in Chhattisgarh. The team conducted field visits in Chhattisgarh in two phases.

It may be noted here that Chhattisgarh had opened 17 gates of Kalma Barrage just before the tribunal’s field visit.