BHUBANESWAR: The 10-member Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT) is all set to arrive on a five-day visit to Odisha on Thursday.
The tribunal’s tenure is slated to end on April 13 and there is no clarity on its extension yet.
Headed by chairperson Justice Bela M Trivedi, the tribunal will view a presentation on the Hirakud dam and other spots of Odisha including part of the Mahanadi river basin on Friday. The team will also visit the Burla and Chiplima powerhouses the same day. It will visit the Hirakud command area on the way to Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary.
On March 1, the team members will offer prayers at the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar and Shree Jagannath temple in Puri following which they will visit the Kushabhadra confluence at Ramchandi near Konark. On the last day of its visit on March 2, the team will travel to Satapada jetty and visit Chilika lake and the sea mouth before returning to Bhubaneswar.
Ahead of the tribunal’s visit, the Mahanadi Bachao Andolan (MBA) has raised questions over its effectiveness without any high-level official engagement even as uncertainty looms over extension of its tenure.
Talking to mediapersons after a meeting on the MWDT visit, MBA convenor Sudarsan Das demanded an interim award from the tribunal to ensure release of adequate water into Mahanadi during non-monsoon season. He also raised concerns about the ability of the tribunal to complete the hearings and issue a final order which will protect the interest of Odisha and its people.
“The last visit of the tribunal in May 2023 did not help Odisha’s cause in any way despite the state government spending `5 crore from its exchequer,” he alleged. The body has also decided to hold protests against the visit at 10 places including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Currently, the BJP government is exploring an amicable settlement with Chhattisgarh on the long-standing water dispute, sparking fear among the Opposition that the state might abandon the legal fight to protect its water rights.
However, in a written reply to a question during the current session of the Assembly, CM Mohan Charan Majhi informed that talks between both the states for a negotiated settlement of the dispute are progressing positively.