Bhubaneswar: The Mahanadi Bachao Andolan, a civil society conglomerate fighting for the protection of the river, continued its satyagraha in protest against the Centre's failure to form a tribunal to adjudicate river dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

The andolan activists on Tuesday beat gongs protesting against the Centre's insensitivity to the cause.

"We have sought the appointment of Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari to press for the demand for constitution of the Mahanadi tribunal at the earliest. If he does not listen, we will intensify our agitation in the coming days," said andolan convener Sudarsan Das, appealing all the political parties to rise above party lines and fight till Odisha gets justice.

Das claimed that all the political parties, including the BJP, had pledged their support to their movement.

On Tuesday, BJD MP Prasanna Patsani, former CPM MP Sivaji Patnaik, trade union leader Nabakishore Mohanty, leaders of other Left parties and people from the Mahanadi river basin area such as Banki, Kantilo, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Jajpur took part in the satyagraha.

In August, the activists had staged demonstration in front of the Parliament, demanding constitution of the Mahanadi river dispute tribunal and immediate halt to the construction of barrages in the river upstream. Das said an andolan delegation met the Union water resources secretary Amarjit Singh on November 16. "He had told us that a bill pending in the Parliament would be passed in the coming winter session. Appropriate steps would be taken after passage of the bill to adjudicate the river dispute. But, we said there was nothing wrong in constitution of the tribunal, till the bill is pending," he said.