Kendrapara: A fresh controversy has erupted over the contentious mega drinking water project on Kharasrota river at Barunadiha under Rajkanika tehsil in Kendrapara district after an RTI query pointed to the severe irregularities in the report submitted by Professor Sashidhar of IIT-Hyderabad on the project.
The state government is executing the project on the basis of a social and environmental impact assessment report submitted by Prof Sashidhar of IIT-Hyderabad.
An RTI activist Pratap Chandra Mohanty of Talasanga village has questioned the authenticity of the report submitted by Prof Sashidhar of the civil engineering department in response to an RTI query filed by Odisha Suchana Aain Adhikar Abhiyan (OSA), November 11.
Mohanty has questioned the grounds on which the state government accepted the report submitted by Prof Sashidhar, who is from civil engineering department, and spent large funds on the project.
According to Mohanty, he is mulling legal action against Prof Sashidhar and the state Water Resources department, which recommended the project.
In his reply, Sayeed Sabir Ali, the deputy registrar-cum-public information officer of IIT-Hyderabad has not clearly mentioned about the post held by Prof Sashidhar in the IIT.
However, Prof Sashidhar’s report is available with the state government and carries the seal of the head of the department, civil engineering.
Prof Sashidhar is not qualified enough to make an environmental impact assessment of the project, Mohanty alleged. Earlier, Prof Sashidhar had clarified that he neither visited the site personally nor has he sent anyone to prepare the report.
He said that the report was prepared on the basis of information available in the Internet.
The state government is implementing the mega drinking water project under Basudha Yojana to supply piped drinking water to four blocks and three notified area councils (NACs) in Bhadrak district.
The water will be lifted from Kharasrota river at Barunadiha under Rajkanika block. Its intake well is under construction at Barunadiha.
PNN
