A new forum called People’s Mahanadi Commission comprising eminent personalities of the country has been constituted to study the issues affecting the flow of the river, the ones that are detrimental to the riparian zone and the catchment area ecology of the Mahanadi river basin.

The forum has been constituted at a time when the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal constituted by the Supreme Court is on a visit to the state to study the river basin in the context of the legal confrontation between the two neighbouring states — Odisha and Chhattisgarh — on their claims and counter claims over the construction of barrages on the upper catchment and release of Mahanadi water to the lower catchment.

The tribunal has already visited the lower catchment and upper catchment of the Mahanadi. It will soon meet the Odisha government officials on the issue of Mahanadi. The Supreme Court constituted the Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal on January 23, 2018, for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

Convener of the Mahanadi Bachao Andolan, Sudarshan Das, said: “The People’s World Commission on Drought and Flood (PWCDF) endorsed the plan to form the People’s Mahanadi Commission (PMC), which will study the issue and prepare a report with recommendations. The objective of the commission is to understand the impact of the construction of barrages, dams, and river valley projects on the river and its upper basin and how it is affecting drought and floods in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. It will evaluate the current condition of the Mahanadi and assess the impact of human activities on its environmental flow.”