The Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal on Saturday asked the Odisha and Chhattisgarh Governments to submit their requisite documents relating to the original suit by October 19.
After hearing the interim application filed by the Odisha Government, the tribunal set August 3 as the next date of hearing the case.
Earlier, the tribunal had postponed the hearing scheduled on May 11 to July 13 after both States sought four weeks’ time as they failed to convene the third coordination meeting due to the cyclone Fani in Odisha on May 3.
On March 30, the tribunal, while hearing the interim petition of Odisha, had directed both the States to hold another round of talks to resolve the Mahanadi water sharing dispute amicably.
However, Mahanadi Bachao Andolan (MBA) convenor Sudarsan Das expressed concern over the delays in the adjudication process of the Mahanadi dispute by the tribunal.
“The Mahanadi River Dispute Tribunal was constituted on 12. 3. 2018 and had its first sitting on 3.10.2018. By now 15 months have passed since the tribunal was constituted and more than 8 months since the tribunal had its first hearing. But unfortunately people of Odisha are unlucky as no considerable relief has been granted to them. Nor have the concerns pertaining to restoring the minimum flow of the river during the non monsoon period been given due regard by the tribunal,” said an MBA release in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
The front urged the tribunal to expedite the adjudication and the Governments of Odisha and Chhatisgarh to sit for negotiation time and again at different levels such as officials, legislators and at CMs level also. Besides, it also appealed to the civil societies and people at large of both the States to build pressure on the authorities in resolving the dispute.