To elicit expert opinion, a consultation on 'Draft River Basin Management Bill 2018' was organised here on Friday.
The meeting jointly organised by the Peoples Advocacy and Action Research Group, Focus Odisha Foundation and NIRMAN was held at the Orissa Environment Society (OES) and chaired by OES president Dr SN Patro.
After a brief introduction of the subject and objectives by Focus Odisha Foundation director Sudarshan Chhotoray, water expert Tapan Padhi presented the salient features of the draft legislation and former Superintendent Engineer Shisir K Behera shared an outline on basic components of the Bill.
While speaking as a keynote speaker, former Engineer-in-Chief of Odisha Water Resources Department Ramesh C Tripathy highlighted on technical and legal aspects of river basin management.
"Unless there are technical, scientific and hydrological studies there is no meaning of management of river basins," said Tripathy.
He emphasized on the need for an ultimate dispute redressal mechanism for water dispute.
Speaking on ensuring riparian rights of people of the basin States, former bureaucrat Prafulla Chaulia stressed the need for democratic decision making and participation in proposed River Boards.
Prominent among the speakers who took part in discussion were former Engineer-in-Chief BC Padhi, geologist Shahid Ummer, programme director of NIRMAN Suresh Bisoyi, NGT lawyer Shankar Prasad Pani, researcher Priyabrata Satpathy, social activist Tusharkant, columnist Lalit Mishra, former Deputy Labour Commissioner Dr Pradip Kumar Rath, OES Member Raghunath Prusty, Nitu Chakhia and Bharat Panigrahi.
It was decided to compile expert opinions from different sectors and submit a memorandum to the Union Water Resources Ministry.