Dam construction and the entire geographical situation understood from the map, the officers of Odisha gave arguments during the discussion.
Raigarh: The Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal has completed its two-phase visit to Chhattisgarh. In the last site inspection, the tribunal took stock of Kelo Dam the other day. During this, the members of the tribunal asked the officials of the Kelo project that how much water is given to whom from the dam. The Mahanadi water dispute between Chhattisgarh and Odisha has deepened. The decreasing water level of Hirakud Dam has put Odisha in worry. Here Chhattisgarh has also added projects of Jal Jeevan Mission besides providing water to the industries through the barrages built in Mahanadi. The Supreme Court had ordered the central government to set up a tribunal when the problem was not resolved by talks between the two states.
Justice Ravi Ranjan, Justice Indermeet Kaur and Justice AK Pathak, members of the formed tribunal, had come to inspect. Apart from this, many technical experts have also been kept in the tribunal who verify the data. The tribunal had scheduled a tour of the Mahanadi basin in two phases, on the last day of which the Kelo Dam was reviewed on Tuesday. The tribunal team reached the dam at around 9 am. Collector Taran Prakash Sinha and SP Sadanand Kumar were also present. The tribunal members took complete information from the officials of the Kelo project. First a map of the catchment area of the river and the catchment area of the dam was seen. After this, information about the water holding capacity of the dam was also taken. In the discussion, the members asked how much water from the dam is used and where. The officials of the Kelo project informed about the water being given to irrigation, drinking water and industries.
One of the eight gates of Kelo Dam was opened on the day of inspection. Along with the tribunal, many top officials of Odisha had also reached Raigarh. During the discussion, facts were also kept on behalf of Odisha on many figures. There was a tight police arrangement at the Kelo Dam site. After the inspection the members returned to New Delhi. Odisha is to be visited in the next phase.