Bhubaneswar: Seeking further extension of the Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT), the Odisha government Wednesday urged the Centre to step in as mediator to help resolve the long-pending water-sharing dispute with neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
Odisha’s Revenue and Diaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the state government has requested the Centre to take the lead in resolving the dispute through negotiations, even though the matter is under consideration of the tribunal.
“We have talked to the central government and also the Chhattisgarh government. Odisha wants that the matter should be resolved amicably. The Centre needs to play the role of a mediator between the two states,” Pujari told reporters.
Pujari said Odisha government’s inter-ministerial committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo has also held discussion with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai.
“At the same time, the Odisha government has formally written to the Centre seeking a nine-month extension of the tenure of the tribunal, whose current term is nearing completion,” he said.
Justifying the demand for extension of the tribunal, the minister said the chairperson of the panel was not available for nine months for which no hearings could be held. Therefore, the tenure of the tribunal need to be extended, he added.
MWDT was constituted in March 2018 under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to resolve the dispute over water sharing between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
In 2016, Odisha filed a complaint alleging that Chhattisgarh constructed several dams/barrages at upstream of Mahanadi, thus blocking the free flow of water in the interstate river.
Though the tribunal operates since five years, the statement of only one witness has so far been recorded. Therefore, the tribunal’s tenure should be extended, Pujari said.