Kendrapara: Lack of fresh water and rampant pollution in three major river systems might prove to be catastrophic for the Bhitarkanika wetland, a report said. The matter came to the fore during a hearing on water pollution in Bhitarkanika and Chilika wetlands at the Orissa High Court, June 30. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik heard the matter and directed the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to conduct a technical probe into the water pollution in these two wetlands.
The date of submission of report by SPCB has been scheduled to August 11. During hearing, Amicus Curiae Mohit Agarwal apprehended that the water of Brahmani river is polluting Bhitarkanika the most. The toxic effluents discharged by Nalco and chemical fertiliser industries into the Brahmani river are polluting the river water.
Apart from coal, these industrial firms use chemicals like fluoride, nitrogen, cyanide, chromium, fly-ash and others in their plants which are discharged into the river sans treatment polluting the water body. Rampant movement of boats and trawlers, mindless tree felling by illegal Bangladeshi nationals and establishment of illegal prawn gheries near the shore and rivers also contributes to the river water pollution. It is apprehended that the Bhitarkanika wetland might not get fresh water in coming days which will greatly affect its sustainability and existence. The seven rivers and 27 creeks in Brahmani, Baitarani and Mahanadi river systems in Kendrapara district have been instrumental for survival of the mangrove forests in Bhitarkanika.
However, blockage of fresh water at various places, lifting of river water is likely to destroy the bio-diversity of Bhitarkanika, environmentalists rued. Environmentalist Hemant Kumar Rout, educationists Bhuban Mohan Jena and Khitish Kumar Singh said that scarcity of fresh water will be the foremost reason behind the destruction of mangrove forests in Bhitarkanika.
The mangrove forests grow on a mixture of 60 per cent of saline water and 40 per cent of fresh water. Casuarina forests can only be seen on sea shores due to lack of flow of fresh water. Rivers like Mahanadi, Baitarani, Brahmani and their distributaries which supply fresh water to Bhitarkanika are drying up and becoming increasingly polluted due to discharge of toxic effluents by industrial firms. The flow of Mahanadi water to the state has declined after construction of a barrage in Chhattisgarh.
As a result, the water flow of Mahanadi in Kendrapara district decreases in non-monsoon months. The problem has aggravated after construction of a large reservoir in Mahanadi at Santara in Kujang block of neighbouring Jagatsinghpur district. Two major drinking water projects will draw water from this reservoir and supply it to over 200 villages in Mahakalapara and Marshaghai blocks of Kendrapara district.
As a result, this will hit the flow of fresh water of Mahanadi to Bhitarkanika which is on the downstream of the river. Similar is the case with Baitarani river whose fresh water has stopped flowing into Bhitarkanika during non-monsoon months. Moreover, construction of a tank near Jajpur town to store the Baitarani river water is likely to hinder the flow of river water into Bhitarkanika even in monsoon season. This apart, construction of two mega irrigation projects and two drinking water projects in Kharasrota river, a distributary of Brahmani river will further dry up the water flow into Bhitarkanika. An agitation is also going on to construct a barrage on Kharasrota to keep enough water required for these five projects. This has further cast doubts whether the fresh water of Kharasrota will reach Bhitarkanika at all.
