The government of Odisha and Chhattisgarh should come together for a coordinated and cohesive approach to address challenges faced by the already stressed Mahanadi river, said water conservationist Ranjan Panda while adding that the tribunal set up to resolve the dispute can take care of the data war that is bound to take place.
It is the right time to switch on positive politics and open up fresh avenues for “Dialogue for Cooperation” on the real issues and challenges faced by the river, its people and ecology, noted Panda.
Panda said irrespective of the tribunal, both states must evolve a joint action plan to save the basin from further dying and restore its ecology.
Riparian communities right over drinking water, irrigation and other livelihood needs which are now severely threatened by factors like indiscriminate industrialisation, heavy forest degradation, pollution by coal fired power plants and other industries, urban wastes, as well as climate change, need to be top priority, he said.
The tribunal may take three to five years at the minimum to come up with a water sharing formula but the river is dying right now and can’t wait for five years for a decision to come.
The track record shows that tribunals take decades and there is no guarantee that their decisions will go unchallenged by the party states, he observed while urging both states to involve in a dialogue with all stake holders at the earliest.
The political slug fest is over – each side has made its point and the Tribunal has been announced, so now, the politicians can get back to normal and work together , he remarked.