The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday opposing the State government’s move to divert Kharasrota river water for supplying piped water to neighbouring Bhadrak district alleged it as a well-hatched conspiracy to protect the interest of industrial houses including Dhamra private port.

The government’s move smacks of foul play. Diverting water from Kharasrota river Kendrapara district the neighbouring Bhadrak district is bound to trigger depletion of water intake capacity. The natural flow of the river should be protected for the larger interest of people of Kendrapara who are mostly dependent on agriculture income for livelihood, charged veteran CPM leader and the former state secretary of the left party, Janardhan Pati.

Advertisement

Briefing newsmen here today, he said “the way the government is trampling down the resistance movement against the mega drinking water project, it leads one to believe that the project is being implemented to meet with the water requirement of industries including the Dhamra port in Bhadrak district”.

If the port and other companies are allowed to draw water from the mega project, the water level will fall drastically and will adversely affect farming and ecology of the nearby Bhitarkanika National Park, which is home to the country’s second largest mangrove cover, he said.

Since no environment impact assessment had been done properly  for the proposed  mega drinking water project, it is an act of impropriety on the part of the state government to go ahead with the  construction of the project, he said.

It may be recalled here that the Rs 892 crore Buxi Jagabandhu Assured Water Supply to Habitations (BASUDHA) water project had evoked angry protests across Kendrapara district since past fortnight. As a precautionary measure, prohibitory orders have been enforced in Balakati, Bharigada and Barunadiha panchayats under Rajkanika block till October 8.

The project will provide safe drinking water to villages in Bhadrak district where the groundwater table is heavily salinated. The project requires 105 million litre per day and less than 4 percent of water inflow of the river will be diverted for the mega project. The apprehension expressed by people in Rajkanika is unfounded and does not have logical basis, said Niranjan Behera, Kendrapara Sub Collector.