Vamsadhara Water Disputes Tribunal chairman Justice Mukund Sharma on Tuesday said all efforts would be made to find out an amicable solution to the water sharing dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha as the differences between the two sides were not serious. The tribunal would hear the arguments of both sides again before taking a decision.
Justice Sharma, however, made it clear that a timeframe could not be fixed as deliberations were still underway.
He visited Neradi and Katragadda villages near Batthili in Srikakulam district along with other members of the tribunal – D.N. Chaturvedi and Gulam Mohammad. Senior officials of the two States accompanied the team to put forth their respective points of view.
Srikakulam Joint Collector Pola Bhaskar, Engineer-in-Chief (irrigation) C .Muralidhar and chief engineers M.A. Raoof and K. Jalandhar insisted that a barrage be constructed only at Neradi since Odisha had agreed to it in 1961 itself. Joining issue with them, Odisha Engineer-in-Chief B. Panda and chief engineer M.K. Misra argued that the construction of the barrage would lead to inundation of many places.
