CUTTACK: THE State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has informed the Orissa High Court that the unchecked discharge of untreated sewage from the city into Kathajodi river at Khan Nagar is alarming.
The court had sought a report from the SPCB on the water quality at the spot where it is discharged into Kathajodi river. In pursuance of the order, the central laboratory of SPCB submitted a test report of the samples taken from the water flowing in the Kathajodi river at that spot.
During the hearing of the PIL on Monday, Member Secretary of SPCB K Murugesan who was present in virtual mode stated before the court that test reports indicated a high coliform count and the presence of fecal coliform was far above the permissible limit. Murugesan described the situation as very alarming.
The court was hearing a PIL that the general secretary of Khan Nagar Khapuria Silpanchala Puja Committee Prafulla Kumar Sahoo had filed in 2016 on the unchecked discharge of drain/wastewater into Kathajodi through a sluice gate at Khan Nagar.
Cuttack Municipal Corporation Executive Engineer DR Tripathy who was also present in virtual mode pleaded that untreated sewage from the main stormwater channel is being discharged into the Kathajodi river as work on the stretch from Matrubhawan to Matagajpur has not been completed.
Due to it, the sewage in the main stormwater channel is being diverted from Matrubhawan towards Khan Nagar and discharged into the Kathajodi there instead of allowing it to flow to Matagajpur where the Sewage Treatment Plant is located, Tripathy pleaded.
Taking note of it, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik directed the CMC Executive Engineer to file by April 4 an affidavit listing the steps taken to ensure that the untreated sewage water is not released to the river.
The bench further asked SPCB member secretary to file an affidavit explaining what kind of interventions are necessary by the other municipal corporations to reduce the discharge of untreated effluents into the rivers, nallahs, and streams in the State. The next hearing will be on April 4.