Kendrapara: Construction of a drinking water project on the Kharasrota river is being opposed by local residents and activists as they claim the project will have a bad impact on the Bhitarkanika National Park which was declared as a Ramsar site by UNESCO in 2002.
The under-construction drinking water project on the river at Barunadiha area under Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district has been a cause of concern for environmentalists too.
According to them, any decrease in the amount of fresh water will have a catastrophic impact on the wetland. It is feared that the wetland will not get any fresh water in the coming days.
As many as seven rivers and 27 rivulets that flow through Kendrapada district help protect the mangrove forests in Bhitarkanika. The district heavily depends on the Brahmani, the Baitarani and the Mahanadi river systems.
If the flow of fresh water is stopped or reduced due to the project, it will spell disaster for the ecosystem of Bhitarkanika, they feared. Trying to save Bhitarkanika from the possible damage, environmentalists from different parts of the state have raised five questions for the district administration, State government and Central government as well as for the state and district level forest officials. If they fail to offer satisfactory answers, they will intensify the drive against the project, the environmentalists warned.
Srikant Nayak, Biswanath Mohanty and Faizal Khan from Bhubaneswar, Soumyaranjan Mohanty from Puri, Balaram Panda from Rayagada and Hemant Kumar Rout, Prof Bhubanmohan Jena and lecturer Kshitish Kumar Singh from Kendrapara said the decrease in fresh water will destroy the mangrove forest in the region.
Mangrove forest grows well at the places where there are saline and fresh water in 60:40 proportion. Due to lack of fresh water in coastal areas, there are only casuarina jungles and no mangrove forest.
Of the 480-kilometre-long coastline in the state, mangrove forest spreads over 222 square kilometres. Of the 48-kilometre-long coast in Kendrapara district, mangrove forest spreads over 183 square kilometres.
The Bhitarkanika wetland receives the required amount of fresh water from rivers like Mahanadi, Baitarani and Brahmani’s distributary Kharasrota.
Due to various reasons, these rivers will soon go dry. With Chhattisgarh constructing a barrage on the Mahanadi river, Kendrapara receives comparatively less water during the non-monsoon period.
At the same time, a mega reservoir on the Mahanadi river is under-construction at Santara under Kujang block in Jagatsinghpur district. With an objective to supply water to 200 villages in Marshaghai and Mahakalpara blocks in Kendrapara district, two mega projects are currently under construction. As a result, Bhitarkanika will not get sufficient water.
Similarly, the water of the Baitarani river hardly reaches Bhitarkanika during the non-monsoon period. As of now, construction of a reservoir on Baitarani river is underway. This will further hamper the flow of fresh water to Bhitarkanika. Two mega irrigation projects and an equal number of mega drinking water projects will be constructed on the Kharasrota river. At the same time, water will be drawn from the river for the mega drinking water project in Bhadrak district.
The stream of Brahmani river will not be sufficient to keep the ecosystem of Bhitarkanika alive. At a time when the ecosystem of Bhitarkanika is threatened, the stoic silence of the DFO and Chief Forest Conservator has raised doubts.
Nuahata of Chandbali block in Bhadrak district and Barunadiha, where the controversial drinking water project is under construction, are coming in the eco sensitive zone. The environmentalists sought to know how the project is being allowed in an eco sensitive zone.
Their third question is why no project is being taken up to help the water flow of rivers reach Bhitarkanika. The fourth one is why no study has been undertaken with respect to availability of fresh water.
Their last question is when the fact-finding committee will submit its report on the condition of the Bhitarkanika National Park after completion of mega projects at different locations.
When contacted, DFO Jagyandatta Pati said the Bhadrak drinking water project has been passed in December 2020 while IIT, Hyderabad has alredy submitted a report on the project.