“The Central Government hereby extends the period of submission of report and decision by the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal for a period of two years upto 11th March, 2023 or till the submission of report and decision under sub-section (2) of section 5 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, whichever is earlier,” read a notification issued by the Jal Shakti Ministry on June 3.
The Central Government has constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal on March 12, 2018 under Section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (as amended) for adjudication of water dispute regarding the inter-state river Mahanadi.
The Mahanadi Tribunal was required to submit its report and decision before March 21. However, the Tribunal could not submit its report within the said period of three years due to unavoidable reasons, the notification said.
Odisha had raised the dispute in 2016 over Chhattisgarh building a number of dams and barrages in the upstream of the Mahanadi river.
The State government had alleged that construction of the barrages by Chhattisgarh has led to drying of river bed in Odisha during the summer season.
So far, the Mahanadi Tribunal failed to make any significant progress to resolve the dispute between the two States.
