ALTAMAS KABIR, J.

( 1 ) THE State of Orissa has filed this writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, wherein the Government of India has been made the Respondent No. 1 and the state of Andhra Pradesh has been made the respondent No. 2, inter alia, for the following reliefs :-

"a) direct the Government of India to constitute an appropriate Tribunal under section 4 of the Inter State Water Disputes act, 1956 and thereafter, refer to it the dispute relating to the construction of Side channel Weir and Flood Flow Canal project at Katragada on the river vansadhara by the State of Andhra pradesh; b) issue a writ of mandamus commanding the State of Andhra Pradesh to forbear from carrying on any works of the proposed project;"

( 2 ) AS indicated in the very opening paragraph, the writ petition was filed by the State of orissa for a direction to the Central government to constitute a Water Disputes tribunal under the Inter-State Water Disputes act, 1956 and to refer to the Tribunal the dispute contained in the complaint made by the State of Orissa on 13th February, 2006, as to whether the State of Andhra Pradesh was justified in constructing a Side Channel weir and Flood Flow Canal Project on the river Vansadhara at Katragada, which would adversely affect the supply of water from the river to the State of Orissa and adversely affect the livelihood of thousands of people of Orissa in glaring violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

( 3 ) IN order to understand the stand taken by the State of Orissa in the matter, it would be necessary to set out the facts of the case giving rise to the dispute.

( 4 ) THE river Vansadhara originates in the south West of Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district of Orissa and continues its journey for 239 kms. before entering the Bay of bengal. Out of the said 239 kms. , a length of 154 kms. lies in the State of Orissa, 29 kms. forms the border between the State of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and the remaining 56 kms. lies within the State of Andhra Pradesh. The said river and its valley is fed by the south-West monsoon beginning in the middle of June and ending in the month of October each year and is followed by the retreating monsoon and North-East monsoon till the end of January. According to the State of Orissa, about 80% of the total volume of water comes from the catchment area lying in Orissa. While the farmers in Andhra Pradesh utilize 7 TMC of water from the river, the inhabitants of orissa utilize 12 TMC for drinking purposes and water tanks etc. in the up-stream and down stream of Katragada.

( 5 ) DURING the period from 1956-60, the State of Andhra Pradesh proposed the construction of Gotta Barrage and Neradi Barrage across the Vansadhara river. During the aforesaid period, many meetings were held between the officials of the two State Governments to resolve the dispute of allocation of water. On 30th September, 1962, an Agreement was signed by the Additional Chief Engineer of orissa and the Additional Secretary, PWD, of Andhra Pradesh, which was recorded in minutes dated 30th September, 1962. In 1971, the State of Andhra Pradesh started construction of the Gotta Barrage (Vansadhara Stage-l) which was completed in the year 1982. Thereafter, it also constructed Phase-l of Stage-ll of the vansadhara project, i. e. , right bank canal. Several meetings were held between the officials, including the Chief Ministers of the two States, and Agreements were signed pertaining to allocation of water of the Neradi barrage. On 30th December, 1994, a meeting was held between the Chief Ministers of the two States and it was decided that all the available water would be shared between the two States on a 50:50 basis annually. The discussions relating to the distribution of water from the Neradi Barrage were recorded and is reproduced hereinbelow :

"neradi BARRAGE : government of Orissa agrees in principle to the proposal of Government of Andhra pradesh for going ahead with the project sub