Sambalpur declaration released during Odisha river conference held in April 2009 at Sambalpur, Orissa

Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO) and the Indian River Network (IRN) organised the Odisha River Conference during 18 - 20 April 2009 at Sambalpur Odisha, in which about 75 participants including activists, environmentalists, journalists, academicians, researchers and civil society representatives from across the country participated. The "Sambalpur Declaration" released during this conference by the participants, calls for saving the rivers from their current degradation and giving communities their traditional rights over the rivers, amongst other strong resolutions on the subject.

Read the Sambalpur Declaration

Water Initiatives Orissa (WIO) is a broad based network working around water and climate change in the state of Odisha for about a decade now. WIO is housed at MASS, a leading civil society organization in Odisha, with over two decades of experience of working on issues around natural resources. Initiating its action and research around water harvesting, WIO has now spread into larger issues of water including dams, rivers and coastal waters. Its bi-monthly publication water ‘Panira Dagara’ is the first of its kind in Odisha to spread awareness on issues related to water. WIO has been actively involved with several national and international networks on water including those around rivers.

Indian River Network (IRN) is based at the Peaceful Society Goa, and was formed in 1998. IRN works towards raising collective concern about protection and conservation of rivers and water bodies. IRN has been organizing several national, state and regional level programmes and supporting activists and organizations working around rivers since its inception.