After the Central Government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court refusing to form a tribunal to adjudicate the Mahanadi river dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the Odisha Government on Friday filed a counter affidavit in the apex court.
Sources said in the 60 page affidavit of the Odisha Government has refuted all the allegations of the Centre and pointed out that the information provided by the Union Ministry of Water Resources is not correct.
It further stated that thought the Union Government had earlier agreed to form a tribunal to solve the inter-State river dispute by November 18 but it later backtracked. This is a violation of the Inter- State Water Disputes Act.
The affidavit also said the formation of tribunal by the Centre to hear all the water disputes in the country is a time consuming process and by that the interests of Odisha would be hampered. The next hearing of the case is slated for December 11.
In reaction to the issue, BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deo the affidavit filed by Centre in SC is based on bogus facts and we condemn it. Our team has filed a counter affidavit in the apex court.”
“We welcome the decision if Odisha Government has filed the affidavit based on facts. Otherwise it will be just to politicise the issue,” said BJP State president Basant Panda.