Bhubaneswar: Some 13 political organisations under the umbrella of Mahanadi Bachao Andolan met governor S.C. Jamir on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum to him addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind.

They also staged a demonstration near Raj Bhavan - the governor's residence.

The BJD and Congress also joined the demonstration. However, the state BJP unit skipped the event saying that those who organised it "lacked political acumen".

Mahanadi Bachao Andolan chief Sudarshan Das said: "We have placed two demands - immediate stoppage of the ongoing work on all barrages in the upstream of Mahanadi by Chhattisgarh and no operation of the existing projects on the river in the neighbouring state till the water-sharing issue is resolved between the two states." To put pressure on the Central government to immediately form a water tribunal on Mahanadi, the organisation plans to stage a demonstration in New Delhi on December 18.

The Supreme Court had given a direction to the Centre to constitute a tribunal before November 19. But, it is yet to be constituted.

Condemning the delay in the constitution of the Mahanadi river tribunal, the organization decided that it would raise the apathetic approach of the Centre during the forthcoming Parliament session.

On November 25, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had also raised the issue while attending the 12th meeting of the standing committee of the Inter-State Council in New Delhi. At the meeting, Naveen had expressed disquiet over the unilateral construction of barrages by Chhattisgarh government in the upstream of the Mahanadi as it was bound to adversely affect the interests of Odisha.

"The people of Odisha are hugely dependent on the waters of river Mahanadi, but the flow in the river Mahanadi in the downstream has dipped alarmingly on account of unilateral construction activities undertaken by Chhattisgarh," Naveen had said.

BJD general secretary Debi Prasad Mishra on Tuesday said: "We will continue to raise the issue at all forums keeping the state's interest in mind."

BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said: "We are always there to fight for the state's interest. But, we are not associated with people who lack political identity."