Mahanadi row: Odisha to draw SC attention on delay in tribunal

Vexed over the Centre's delay in constituting a tribunal to resolve Mahanadi water dispute with neighbouring Chhattisgarh, the Odisha government today said it would draw the attention of the Supreme Court which is scheduled to hear a case in this regard early next month.
"We will raise the tribunal issue in the Supreme Court which is scheduled to hear a case filed by Odisha government. The Supreme Court will hear the case in the first week of December," Odisha's water resources secretary P K Jena told reporters.
Noting that the Centre had informed the Supreme Court earlier that it was preparing documents for formation of a tribunal, Jena said: "They (WR Ministry) have not met the deadline."

The deadline for formation of a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh ended yesterday.
Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had twice wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention for early formation of the tribunal, the ministry has not been able to meet the deadline.
Patnaik, in his November 7 letter to the Prime Minister, had also categorically said that delay in formation of the tribunal under provision of the Inter State River Water Dispute Act, 1956, helped Chhattisgarh complete its projects on the upstream of river Mahanadi, much to the detriment of the people of Odisha.

The chief minister also mentioned that the additional solicitor general, appearing for the Union government, had informed the Supreme Court on May 2, 2017 that the Union Ministry of Water Resources had prepared a note for the Cabinet on the constitution of the tribunal.

He said that the apex court had also said that the notification for the tribunal should be issued by November 19, 2017.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJD headed by Patnaik, came down heavily on the Centre accusing it of supporting Chhattisgarh, a BJP ruled state.
"The Centre has once again betrayed the people of Odisha by violating law of the land and not meeting the assurance given by the Supreme Court," BJD vice-president Prasanna Acharya said.

In a statement, Acharya alleged that the Centre has been supporting the "illegal" activities of Chhattisgarh government that constructed barrage projects on upstream of Mahanadi without consulting Odisha.
Announcing that the BJD would intensify its agitation against the Centre's "anti-Odisha" attitude, Acharya said the people of Odisha would not tolerate such kind of "injustice" towards the state.