Government on Thursday decided to constitute a tribunal to go into the Vamsadhara river water dispute between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting, approved the constitution of the tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act as directed by the Supreme Court.

The tribunal would have a Chairman and two members nominated by the Chief Justice of India, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here, adding that the three members at the time of their nomination should be judges of the Supreme Court or High Court.

The Water Resources Ministry had received a request from Orissa government in 2006 for setting up of a tribunal for adjudication of the water dispute with Andhra Pradesh on the inter-state river Vamsadhara.

Orissa government also filed a writ petition in the apex court, which directed the Centre in February this year to constitute the tribunal within a period of six month and refer the dispute to it.