Mahanadi Dispute: Tribunal Asks Odisha, Chhattisgarh To Conduct 2nd Field Visit; Next Hearing In Feb

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: 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, informed Advocate General of Odisha, Ashok Parija.

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

It is pertinent to mention that a team from Odisha had visited Chhattisgarh between October 29 and November 3, and in the second week of November representatives of Chhattisgarh visited Odisha to conduct their respective field visits. The teams later submitted a report to the Tribunal in this regard.

“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, 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.

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