By Rakhi Ghosh
Puri: Almost a year to the week after a diarrhoea outbreak linked to contaminated water hit Kanas block, jaundice has come knocking at the community’s doors, once again tied to the consumption of water from the Daya river.
One person from Nuadokanda village died and nine others were hospitalised at the Puri District Hospital and SCB Medical College & Hospital in Cuttack. The deceased, Bimbadhar Behera, was in his 40s. The remaining patients have since been discharged. Authorities have advised residents to avoid using river water and to drink boiled supply water.
For residents, the outbreak is a grim repetition of the past. Medical teams from the public health department have visited affected villages to assess sanitation conditions and water sources. Samples from the Daya river, tube wells, ponds and wells have been sent for laboratory testing to determine the cause of the outbreak. Potable water is being supplied through tankers.
For Babrubahan Sethi, who lost his mother during last year’s outbreak, the latest cases have brought back painful memories. Just days earlier, on January 5, the Odisha Human Rights Commission ruled in favour of Sethi and other petitioners who lost family members during the 2025 outbreak. Six people had died and hundreds fell ill after consuming polluted river water at the time.
“For generations, we depended on the Daya for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing,” Sethi said, speaking from the backyard of his thatched house with the river flowing behind him. His voice carried anger and fatigue as he showed medical records from the treatment of his mother, Gurei Sethi.
Babrubahan, who grew up on the river’s banks, said he has witnessed a steady decline in water quality over the years. “We knew it was unsafe, but the groundwater here is contaminated with iron and tastes salty. We had no choice but to boil and consume river water,” he said, adding that villagers had repeatedly complained to block-level officials but received no response.
When Gurei fell ill, she was taken first to a nearby community health centre and later to the Puri District Hospital. She was eventually referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, where she died. After her death, Babrubahan filed a petition against the Puri district collector and senior health officials, alleging negligence and holding them responsible for her death.
A polluted lifeline
The Daya river, a distributary of Kuakhai and part of the Mahanadi basin, originates near Bhubaneswar and flows through Pipili, Delang and Kanas blocks of Puri district before draining into Chilika lake. Historically significant, its banks are believed to be the site of the Kalinga War, whose devastation led Emperor Ashoka to embrace Buddhism. Today, the river is witnessing a different kind of devastation.
A comprehensive study, Pollution Dynamics and the Post-Pandemic Trajectory of the Daya River (2000-2025), describes the river’s condition as a case of environmental injustice, with urban waste disproportionately affecting downstream rural communities.
Data from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board show alarming levels of biochemical oxygen demand, depleted dissolved oxygen, and excessive total and faecal coliform counts, as well as faecal streptococcus, in the Daya and several other rivers in the state. Monitoring points in Kanas and surrounding areas recorded contamination far exceeding permissible limits.
Another study on water pollution in Bhubaneswar attributes the contamination to untreated domestic and industrial discharge from pollution-intensive industrial clusters. Since the early 2000s, population growth and industrial expansion have sharply increased the volume of untreated effluents entering the river, rendering it unfit for human use. Levels of chemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand and E coli were found to be beyond permissible limits.
At Kanti village, where the Gangua nullah merges with Daya, the water has turned black and emits a strong odour. Residents no longer spend their evenings on the riverbank and warned this reporter not to even touch the water as there is a risk of infection.
Further downstream, fisherfolk said the pollution has devastated livelihoods. In Jagulaipadar and Nuadokanda villages, residents reported frequent fish deaths and a declining catch.
“Wastewater entering the river makes it impossible for fish to survive,” said Sura Behera of Jagulaipadar.
Despite strong market demand, fisherfolk are unable to earn a living. “Catching crabs, shrimps and fish in Chilika has become difficult for various reasons. The contaminated river water is adding to our woes,” he said, adding that over the past five years many from the community have migrated to Kerala and Bengaluru for work.
“Since 2007, people here have been falling sick after drinking river water, suffering from fever, stomach pain, diarrhoea and skin diseases,” said Braja Mohapatra of Kanti village. “We were fully dependent on the river, but we have stopped using it completely.”
Piped water connections and tube wells now meet local water needs.
This option, however, is not available in Kanas. Human rights activist Kishan Patnaik said nearly three lakh people across three blocks depend on the Daya. “In Delang, people have alternate sources. But in Kanas, most tube well water is contaminated with iron and tastes salty, making it unusable for drinking and cooking,” he said. “People are forced to depend on the polluted river.”
The state government has repeatedly promised the completion of a long-pending piped water project. Madhusudan Jena, sarpanch of Gadishagoda, remains hopeful. “Every summer, when the water level of the Daya drops, we are forced to meet demand through tankers,” he said. After last year’s outbreak, nearly 15,000 litres of water were supplied daily to Nuagaon village, and tanker supply continues.
The mega piped water project, initiated in 2018, is expected to be completed in 2026. Once operational, Jena said, it is expected to provide clean drinking water to villages along the river.
Deaths, disease and discrimination
In Gadishagoda village of Kanas block, Sarathi Pradhan allegedly died after consuming water from the Daya river. His nephew, Upendra Pradhan, said this was the first diarrhoea-related death in the village and was followed by two more.
“After my uncle’s death, we filed a petition with the Odisha Human Rights Commission and a complaint at the local police station,” Upendra said. Following the outbreak, the district administration issued a notice declaring the river water unfit for drinking and briefly supplied water through tankers.
The tanker supply was later withdrawn, with officials stating it was no longer required. Even when tankers were deployed, access was unequal.
“Scheduled caste families were made to stand at the end of the queue. Many times, the tanker would be empty before our turn,” said Babrubahan’s wife Mamata Sethi.
“We still boil and strain river water to drink. To protect our seven-year-old son, we sent him to live with his maternal uncle and enrolled him in a school there. When he visits, we buy bottled water,” Mamata said.
Babrubahan Sethi, a daily-wage labourer in Bhubaneswar, spends Rs 30-50 a day on drinking water and is yet to repay a Rs 50,000 loan taken for his mother’s treatment.
Women in Kanas bear the daily burden of making contaminated water usable. “We spend hours boiling water every day,” said Subarna Dalei, showing rashes on her hands. “Since my marriage, I have never tasted clean water.”
When relatives visit, she asks them to bring water from home. “During festivals, it becomes two or three jars.”
Her neighbour Sabita Dalei said guests often bring their own drinking water because of the smell and taste. “We offer soft drinks instead. Sometimes we drink torani to quench our thirst.”
Sabita pointed to a dry pipeline near her home, meant to supply water once the mega piped water project is completed. “But we don’t dare to hope,” she said.
The contamination has also affected livelihoods. “We used to grow vegetables in our backyard during the rabi season. It helped with household consumption and some income. Now the river water has become poisonous, and the land lies unused,” said Pradhan.
Legal battle and limited relief
Former Satyabadi MLA Ramaranjan Baliarsingh, who filed the first petition with the Odisha Human Rights Commission on the issue, said the case was unusual in both scale and outcome.
“This is one of the rare instances where multiple petitions were filed and senior officials were summoned. In Odisha’s legal history, this is the first time that 12 petitions were filed in a single river contamination case, and three department secretaries, a district collector and the secretary of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board physically appeared before the Commission,” she said.
“Our demands were simple. Clean the river, supply potable water until that happens, and compensate the families of the deceased,” Baliarsingh said.
Referring to the long-pending mega piped water project for Kanas, Baliarsingh said that once operational, it is expected to benefit 153 revenue villages across Kanas, Brahmagiri and Satyabadi blocks. “But the reality is that it may take another two to three years to complete,” he said. “Although Rs 176 crore has been allocated for a wastewater treatment plant, land acquisition and preparation of the detailed project report are yet to be completed. We want the court to fix responsibility on the concerned officials and ensure the work is carried out on a war footing.”
The OHRC eventually ruled in favour of the petitioners, directing the state government to set up a wastewater treatment plant near the Gangua canal, expedite the stalled piped water project, and compensate affected families. Family members of all seven deceased were present when the order was pronounced, along with Baliarsingh and human rights activist Baghambar Patnaik, who assisted in filing the petitions.
The commission recommended compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to four families and Rs 2 lakh each to three others. However, the compensation is yet to be disbursed.
Bhramarabar Sahu of Nuagaon village, who lost his wife Sachala Sahu, had tears in his eyes during the hearing. Back home, however, another crisis was already beginning to unfold.
(Rakhi Ghosh is a freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)
