Mahanadi Water Dispute: Odisha, Chhattisgarh To Conduct Second Field Visit

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: In what can be called a positive step towards solving the Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhatisgarh, Advocate General of Odisha, Ashok Parija informed that the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal has directed the Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments to send their representatives to conduct another field visit in January next year.

Accodingly, a technical team from Chhattisgarh will visit Odisha on January 4, 2020, while representatives from Odisha will visit Chhattisgarh on January 16 to conduct the second field visit, respectively. The Tribunal has also fixed the next hearing on February 1, 2020.

Ealier, a team from Odisha had visited Chhattisgarh between October 29 and November 3 while the Chhatisgarh team had visited Odisha in the second week of November. Both the teams later submitted their respective their respective reports to the Tribunal.

“Chhattisgarh filed its counter on Saturday. The Odisha Government has been given four weeks time to file a rejoinder,” informed Parija.

“Both the states are trying to come up with a ‘compromise formula’. If they don’t arrive at the formula, the court is very likely to give its final decision as the hearing is complete. The hearing fixed on February 1 will examine final issues only,” said Advocate Deepal Narwerkar.

The Odisha government had sought a stay on the construction and operation of barrages being built by Chhattisgarh government on Mahanadi river. It had also demanded the release of 1.74 million acre-feet of water during the non-monsoon season.