Bhubaneswar: The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT), led by its Chairperson Justice Bela M Trivedi, Friday visited Hirakud reservoir and some other places in Sambalpur district as part of its crucial field assessment of the situation in the downstream of the river, officials said. The MWDT is hearing the dispute between Odisha and neighbouring Chhattisgarh over sharing of the Mahanadi water. The tribunal was constituted in 2018 after Odisha alleged that the free flow of the water in the river is blocked due to “illegal” construction of barrages and weirs at the upstream area by Chhattisgarh.
During the visit, the team members inspected the Hirakud Dam, the right spillway, power house facilities and the command area dependent on the reservoir. They also assessed conditions at Chiplima Power House, which plays a crucial role in the generation of hydro-power. Apart from Odisha’s Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, government engineers and officials of both states accompanied the tribunal members. The team was also given a presentation where it was elaborately explained how the blocking of water flow has adversely affected Odisha’s livelihood, agriculture, fisheries, ecology and others, officials said. Acharya said in a post on X that the MWDT “visited the Hirakud Dam area today as a part of their scheduled visit for amicable resolution of the longstanding Mahanadi Water Dispute.”
Later, Acharya told reporters that the tribunal members’ visit is “very important” to deliver justice to Odisha. “They should see and feel how Odisha is affected due to the blockade of the free flow of water downstream in Odisha. Their experience will certainly help Odisha,” he said. The advocate general further said that there was a bid to settle the dispute through negotiation between the two states, and this visit of the tribunal team will also help in this regard. The Mahanadi Bachao Andolan (MBA), an organisation spearheading agitation demanding protection of the Mahanadi, however, oppose the tribunal’s visit and said that a similar visit in 2023 had not yielded any result.
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