Sambalpur: The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal Saturday commenced its 10-day long field inspection beginning from Hirakud Dam in Odisha’s Sambalpur district.
The team reached Jharsuguda district Friday evening.
The tribunal is expected to review the on-ground situation amid the ongoing dispute between the governments of Chhattisgarh and Odisha over the water of Mahanadi River.
According to an official source, the tribunal will inspect as many as 30 locations for the survey. The tour will end May 28 and the members would then depart for Delhi from Bhubaneswar.
The inspection of the Hirakud Dam and Mahanadi reservoir region will continue till May 23. Later, it will be followed by a review of the Mahanadi Delta system. Afterwards, the team will visit Chiplima Powerhouse, Attabira Branch Canal, and Sasan Canal Sunday.
Subsequently, the crew will arrive at Ib Thermal Power Station and the project site of a dam in Jharsuguda and Sundargarh May 22. The tribunal will visit the Upper Jonk dam site in Nuapada district the following day, the source said.
It may be noted that the tribunal visited the Chhattisgarh Kalma Barrage and Kelo project earlier this month as part of the initial phase of the survey.
Ahead of the Tribunal’s visit, the Chhattisgarh government had opened as many as 17 gates of Kalma Barrage.
The tribunal is headed by retired Supreme Court judge AM Khanwilkar, and two other members are Justices Ravi Ranjan and Indermeet Kaur Kochhar, who are judges at the high courts of Patna and Delhi respectively. The three-member tribunal was established by the Centre in 2018.
PNN