Vansadhara tribunal to start hearing form Nov 23
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Report by Jyoti Prakash; Bhubaneswar: Vansadhara water distribution tribunal will start its hearing from next November 23. Before that the tribunal today ordered both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to submit their respective views within 6 weeks. On the other hand, status quo will be maintained on construction of Katraguda barrage on the river Vansadhara till further orders.

The tribunal headed by Justice B.N Agrawal today called a meeting of both the states who are fighting over the water sharing of Vansadhara to present their views in New Delhi. Orissa water resources Secretary Suresh Mohapatra represented the state where as Andhra was represented by its Water Resources minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and the irrigation engineers.

The dispute between Orissa and AP began in the early 90s when the latter attempted to construct the Neredi barrage on Vansadhara river, 16 km from Gunpur town in Orissa’s Rayagada district. Objections raised by Orissa prevented the then AP government from going ahead with the construction. However, AP went ahead and built the Gotta barrage across the river.

Vansadhara, one of the six major rivers of Orissa, originates from the Durgakangar hills (Lingaraj hills) of the Eastern Ghats in Kalahandi district. The 230 km-Long River runs through Orissa (150 km) and Andhra Pradesh before merging into the Bay of Bengal at Kalingapatnam in Andhra. Its catchments area is spread over 1,400 sq km in Orissa and 300 sq km in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra has even constructed second phase of Gotta barrage despite Orissa’s protest. Now, the problem is with the construction of Katraguda barrage on Vansadhara.