Kharasrota Water Project: Odisha Govt In Dock As IIT-HYD Denies Conducting Environment Impact Study

Kendrapada/ Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government citing IIT-Hyderabad studies to justify Rs 754-crore mega drinking water project over Kharasrota river in Kendrapada district has come under the lens after the educational institution denied having submitted any report in this regard.

Notwithstanding vehement protests, the government has gone ahead with the construction work. While the Kendrapada administration had argued in favour of the project, Executive Engineer of the District Rural Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) B Nayak, in a press release through the I&PR Department on August 14, said going by reports by experts of IIT-Hyderabad and the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), the proposed project will utilise only 5 per cent of the water of Kharasrota. Besides, he had maintained the proposed project will have no adverse impact on the biodiversity of Bhitarkanika.

However, Deputy Registrar of the institute Syed Ali Sabeer clarified that no report of environmental and social impact assessment of the project has been submitted by it to the Odisha government. Neither the state government has written to the IIT-Hyderabad about the proposed project nor an expert team of the institute has visited the project site, he added.

The clarification was in response to social activist Pratap Chandra Mohanty’s application seeking details about the purported study from IIT-Hyderbad under the Rights to Information Act, on August 30.

Also Read: Kharasrota Drinking Water Project: Odisha Environmentalist ‘Forcibly’ Admitted To SCB, Takes Shelter Under Tree

Replying to the clarification by the IIT-Hyderabad, the RWSS Executive Engineer told the media that seniors in RWSS Department would be able to provide the detailed information.

Meanwhile, training guns at the government, Congress spokesperson Satya Prakash Nayak told a press conference in Bhubaneswar that his party had earlier dubbed the environmental and social impact assessment report as fake. The clarification by IIT-Hyderabad has substantiated its claim, he added.

The Congress had earlier submitted a memorandum to Governor Ganeshi Lal demanding suspension of the piped water project, fearing increase of salinity and adverse effects on Bhitarkanika’s biodiversity.

Also Read: Mega Drinking Water Project Site In Odisha’s Kendrapada Turns Into Battlefield

The project has been approved by the state government under Basudha Yojana to supply drinking water to 1329 habitations in 526 villages of Chandabali, Tihidi, Basudevpur and Dhamnagar blocks besides 47 wards in Basudevpur municipality, Dhamanagar and Chandabali NACs of Bhadrak district.

The government had claimed to have studied the possible environmental, social and cultural impact of the project. The assessment and evaluation concluded that there are no significant negative or residual impacts of the proposed water supply project. Detailed environmental management is also proposed to mitigate the residual impact of the project.