By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 20, 2018: Ending a long drawn battle between Odisha and Chattisgarh over sharing of water from Mahanadi River, the Cabinet headed by prime minister, Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved setting up of a Tribunal to resolve the ongoing Mahanadi water dispute.

The Tribunal will be headed by a chairman and two other members, who will be nominated by the Supreme Court Chief Justice from amongst the judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts.

It shall determine sharing of water based on availability of water in the Mahanadi basin, contribution of each State, present utilization and potential for future development.

The Tribunal is expected to submit its report within three years, which can be extended for a period not exceeding two years.

The Mahanadi River Waterkeeper Ranjan Panda welcomed the cabinet decision to set up Mahanadi Tribunal saying that both Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments now have got a Constitutional window to make their claims and counter claims with regard to water use and abuse by each other.

“Let the Tribunal take care of the data wars and come up with its decision, but let the state governments not waste a single moment to come together for a coordinated and cohesive approach to address the challenges faced by the already stressed Mahanadi river that is the lifeline for both the states,” urged Panda in a release.

Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, however, said that the Centre was vortuially compelled to constitute a Tribunal following the direction of the Supreme Court.

“We will put forth our demands before the Tribunal and will urge that until a final decision is taken, Chhattisgarh should stop construction work on all the barrages,” said Acharya.

BJP leader Pradip Purohit on the other hand claimed that Odisha government is to be blamed for not taking any action in the past 18 years for which Chhattisgarh went ahead with the construction of barrages.