New Delhi: The Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal has postponed the hearing on a petition filed by Odisha challenging the construction and operation of barrages on River Mahanadi by Chhattisgarh to May 16 due to novel coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown in the country.
The tribunal has issued a notice to the parties regarding the re-scheduling of the hearing.
“Due to outbreak of pandemic COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown and also considering the request made by the counsel on behalf of state of Odisha with consent of party states dated March 31, the date of hearing is re-scheduled for May 16,” the notice issued by the tribunal reads.
Earlier, the hearing was scheduled for April 18, 2020.
In the last hearing February 1, the tribunal had asked both the states to hold a joint meeting and finalise draft issues on the main petition. Both states had apprised the tribunal about their site visits. The counsels for both the states also submitted that they have prepared draft issues. Odisha had framed 26 draft issues in the matter while Chhattisgarh had framed 13 issues.
