BHUBANESWAR: The Mahanadi River Water Disputes Tribunal will begin its nine-day field visit to Odisha from Jharsuguda on Friday. Headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, the tribunal will visit 30 locations during this period. The field visit is scheduled to conclude on May 28.
In-charge chief engineer of inter-state water issues Adikand Patra informed that the tribunal’s field visit will start from Hirakud dam on May 20 and end with an inspection of the Mahanadi delta system. The Chhattisgarh government had requested the tribunal to visit 15 places in the state to support its stand, sources said.
The tribunal will visit the Chiplima power station, the location of the proposed IB Valley, the Tikarpada dam site, Chilika lake, its river mouth and barrages on the Birupa and Mahanadi rivers. It will also assess water flow in Daya, Bhargavi and Kushabhadra river system, all parts of the Mahanadi delta. Besides, the team will also visit Naraj barrage site.
The tribunal had earlier completed its field visit to Chhattisgarh in two phases from April 18 to May 3. It assessed river water storage in major reservoirs including the Ravishankar reservoir, the Murumsilli dam and the Minimata dam. The tribunal also visited six industrial barrages including Rajiv Samoda, Basantpur and Kalma on the main Mahanadi river.
Official sources alleged that the industrial barrages including Kalma in Chhattisgarh are responsible for the drop in the water flow in Odisha side of the Mahanadi river during non-monsoon season. Besides, Odisha government alleged that water storage in the dams constructed by Chhattisgarh government has also affected water flow in Mahanadi river.
However, the common information format will be prepared by the tribunal only after the field visits are completed. The work of the tribunal will be expedited only after the preparation of the format.