BHUBANESWAR: Uncertainty prevails over the Mahanadi River Water Disputes Tribunal as the Centre is yet to extend its tenure after it expired on March 11.Official sources maintained that the next hearing of the tribunal which was scheduled on March 25 has been cancelled. The field visit of the tribunal along with officials of the two states, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, planned during the last week of March will also not take place.
As the tribunal was constituted on March 12, 2018 following an order of the Supreme Court on January 23, 2018, the state government is now contemplating to approach the apex court in this regard . The Odisha government had sought to refer the water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi and its river valley to a tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
Sources, however, said that a decision on the matter is yet to be finalised and will be taken very soon.
Meanwhile, the Opposition political parties in the state have come down heavily on the government for not taking any interest in resolution of the dispute. Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra said even if the government approaches the Supreme Court now, it will have no impact on addressing the problem as Mahanadi has become almost dry in March and is going to be completely dry in a month. Had the state government taken timely action and shown interest, such a situation would not have arisen, he added.
The BJP on the other hand alleged that the state government is not taking any action to keep the dispute alive to politically exploit it. Stating that the BJP was for resolution of the dispute through talks between Odisha and Chhattisgarh from the beginning, BJP general secretary Golak Sahu alleged that the state government went for a tribunal only to prolong it.
In fact, in 25 sessions of the tribunal which has so far been held, there was no progress as common information format is yet to be finalised. The information format would have been finalised after the field visit.The ball is now in the court of the Centre to extend the tenure of the tribunal. The term of the tribunal expired on March 12, 2021, following which it was given two years extension up to March 11, 2023.