Mahanadi Tribunal Serves Notice On Five States

Photograph: Suprakash Mishra

Bhubaneswar: After two-and-half months of its formation, the Mahanadi Tribunal on Wednesday served notice to five states associated with Mahanadi river.

In its notice, the Tribunal has directed Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to send the name of their representatives by August 6.

The Tribunal has also made it clear that hearing of the case will go on in the absence of the state representative if his/her name is not sent within the stipulated time frame.

The Centre had constituted the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal on March 12 this year according to the provisions of the Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956 following the directive of the Supreme Court on January 23.

The Centre on April 17 had shared the terms of reference (ToR) of the Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) with its chairman and Supreme Court judge Justice A M Khanwilkar.

The tribunal chairperson was briefed about the profile of Mahanadi, development of water resource projects by various states and dispute in sharing of its waters.

Besides Justice Khanwilkar, the Tribunal has two other members— Justice Ravi Ranjan, Judge of the Patna High Court and Justice Indermeet Kaur Kochhar, Judge of the Delhi High Court.

The state government will file a petition before the Tribunal after examining the ToR, said state Water Resources minister Niranjan Pujari.