BHUBANESWAR: The ongoing protest against construction of mega drinking water projects on Kharasrota river in Kendrapara district gathered steam on Tuesday after protesters under the banner of Concerned Citizens’ Forum staged a dharna at Lower PMG square here demanding immediate halt to the work and formation of an expert committee to assess their environmental impact on Bhitarkanika and Kharasrota ecosystem.
The members also demanded the Central government’s intervention to halt ongoing construction work of these projects on Kharasrota at Barunadiha of Rajkanika block in Kendrapara. Members of the committee alleged that though the projects fall under Bhitarkanika eco-sensitive zone, their construction is being carried out forcibly without prior permission of Bhitarkanika Eco-Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee (BESZMC). Besides, there is no clarification that such projects will not have any adverse impact on the mangrove ecosystem of Bhitarkanika National Park and Kharasrota river.
The members alleged that in a meeting called by the member secretary of BESZMC (DFO Rajnagar) on December 3 last year, Srikanta Nayak, one of the members of the committee, had demanded formation of an expert panel to conduct the impact study of the drinking water projects before going ahead with their construction. “Though everyone had agreed to the demand, a resolution finalising the projects was released after the second meeting on December 18 without revealing details on the experts in the panel who carried out the study and gave the go ahead. We feel that the project was given clearance hurriedly with malafide intention and must stop immediately,” said social activist and member of the forum Kanhu Charan Behura.
Another member alleged that at least four of the 10 members of the BESZMC were not informed about these meetings. The forum threatened that they will intensify their protest if the State government does not postpone the project work till the environment impact assessment by an expert committee on Bhitarkanika and Kharasrota ecosystem is completed.