Bhubaneswar: The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal is scheduled to begin a field survey in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. The three-member committee led by Supreme Court Justice AM Khanwilkar will visit the Mahanadi upstream, including the origin point of the river, Sandur dam, Ravishankar Sagar, and other major tributaries.
The committee will inspect the Mahanadi basins in Chhattisgarh and Odisha and the availability and use of water by the two states during the monsoon season.
In the first phase of the survey ending April 22, the tribunal will cover the Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh, and the second field visit is scheduled to start on April 29 and continue till May 3. The team is likely to visit the Kelo Dam region on May 3, 2023, to take stock of the situation in the Hirakud dam’s upper catchment.
Meanwhile, as the tribunal began a five-day field survey in Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel stirred a row by raising the construction of a dam over the river. He said the state could not construct a dam in Surguja and barrages in other places because of the ongoing dispute over water sharing.
“Mahanadi originates in Chhattisgarh and we don’t have a dam here. The dispute erupted after barrages were constructed. Due to the ongoing dispute over water sharing, we could not construct a dam in Surguja and barrages (in other places). I understand we should get permission (for the construction), as the entire water of the river goes to Odisha.”
Chhattisgarh’s water resources department’s future developmental activities will depend on the outcome of the award of the tribunal, in terms of the quantum of water allocated to the state, which will be valid until 2051.
It is worth mentioning here that the Odisha government lodged a complaint with the Centre in 2016 regarding the construction of six industrial barrages on the Mahanadi and low flow downstream, especially during the lean period. The tribunal was constituted on March 12, 2018, based on the intervention/order of the Supreme Court in response to the technical facts presented by Odisha.
The Chhattisgarh government, in turn, has submitted that the barrages/anicuts constructed on the Mahanadi are meant for harvesting small amounts of monsoon rainwater and augmenting groundwater and do not obstruct the flow of Mahanadi water.
