BHUBANESWAR: The Mahanadi River Water Disputes Tribunal on Saturday fixed the next date of hearing on Mahanadi river dispute to September 6 following interest shown by Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai for an amicable settlement through dialogue.
“Following the correspondence between the chief ministers of the two states and statements of the senior advocates of the two states, we deem it appropriate to give some more time to resolve the river dispute amicably, as may be possible,” the Tribunal said in its order.
The Tribunal asked the secretaries concerned of the two states to remain present before it on the next date to apprise it about the progress of the settlement talks.
Earlier, the Tribunal in its July 17 order had asked the counsels of both the states to apprise it about progress of such discussion or decision, if any on August 2.
As per the order, advocate general of Odisha Pitambar Acharya placed a copy of the letter written by the chief minister on July 25 to his Chhattisgarh counterpart along with the minutes of the high-level meeting held in this regard at the Lok Seva Bhawan on July 23. A copy of the response of the Chhattisgarh chief minister was also placed.
Senior advocate of Chhattisgarh AK Ganguly informed the Tribunal that the issue of settlement of the dispute is under active consideration of the chief minister of the state.