Bhubaneswar: In what can be seen as an alarm, the state government Tuesday admitted that water of Daya river at Dhauli foothills on the outskirts of capital city has become so polluted that it cannot even be used for irrigation purpose.
Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty informed this to reporters after a high level meeting at the State Secretariat.
Mohanty held the meeting to review the condition of the river and deliberate on the steps required to be taken to bring down its pollution level. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary, as well as secretaries of Panchayati Raj and Forest & Environment.
“Water of Daya river is extremely polluted and is not fit for drinking, bathing or even for farming,” Mohanty told reporters after the meeting while stressing on the need for an awareness campaign to check pollution levels in the river.
Mass awareness campaign will be launched soon, the minister informed.
According to the minister, the polluted water of Gangua nullah which gets drained into Daya river is the main cause of increasing levels of pollution.
The minister said that the government has decided to set up six treatment plants on the river side at an estimated cost of Rs 8crore to protect the river from being polluted.
He also said that work of two sewage treatment plants has already been completed, while setting up of the remaining plants will be expedited.
The revenue department officials were instructed to assess the number of houses required to be evicted for the project at the earliest, sources said.
Meanwhile, Mohanty said that the state government has also issued directions to measure the pollution level of other rivers such as Bhargabi, Luna and Ratnachira.
Pertinent to note here, the historical river Daya is associated with the Kalinga War. The river flows down the Dhauli hill that now houses the famous Peace Pagoda.
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