Bhubaneswar: TheMahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal has expressed displeasure over repeated adjournments in proceedings sought by Odisha and Chhattisgarh, observing that despite claims of efforts towards an amicable settlement, no concrete proposal or consensus has been placed before it.“We are not very happy with the manner in which the proceedings are being conducted. The proceedings are being adjourned at the request of learned advocates for the parties on the ground that they are seriously considering settlement, but so far no concrete proposal on any of the disputed issues has been placed on record,” the tribunal said in an order passed on Monday.The tribunal, comprising chairperson Bela M Trivedi and members Ravi Ranjan and Indermeet Kaur Kochhar, granted “one last opportunity” to both states to finalise the minutes of the technical committee meeting held on April 8, which focused on annual water availability. It fixed May 2 as the next date of hearing.Making its position clear, the tribunal said if the states fail to finalise the minutes or place on record any consensus on the disputed issues by the next hearing, it would proceed with the case on merits.The tribunal also noted that although counsel for Odisha and Chhattisgarh jointly informed it on April 11 that the annual water availability data would be finalised by April 20, more time was sought. The states also failed to submit suggestions on recasting the issues already framed in the reference proceedings to narrow down the dispute, it observed.Reacting to the development, Sudarshan Das, convener of Mahanadi Bachao Andolan, said it was unfortunate that even eight years after the tribunal’s constitution, the govts had failed to submit firm data on water availability in the Mahanadi.The tribunal’s tenure was recently extended by nine months till Jan 2027, amid plans by Odisha and Chhattisgarh to hold a chief ministers’ meeting to resolve the dispute amicably. Officials have cited progress in multiple technical committee meetings and indicated that a joint legal and administrative team meeting could be held soon.The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal was formed on March 12, 2018, following a suit filed by Odisha seeking adjudication of the inter-state water-sharing dispute. Odisha has maintained that efforts are on to reach an amicable settlement.
