Brick by brick, concrete and mortar literally, the grand Mahanadi river is being stifled as it flows through the millennium City.
A devastating scenario is gradually taking shape with the river bed being buried by tonne and tonnes of debris, particularly construction waste like bricks, mortar and chips. The indiscriminate filling-up is not only narrowing the width, but also causing elevation of the river bed __ consequence of which would be catastrophic within only a decade, experts have warned.
The entire stretch through Gadgadia Ghat and beyond the Baliyatra grounds are dotted with heaps and hills of debris that are being dumped brazenly without any restriction in place. The dumps are gradually being pushed inwards into the river bed and threatening to block the flow of the water. Yet, the district administration or the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have preferred to turn a blind eye.
According to experts, the trend, if not brought to a halt now, will ultimately lead to heavy siltation and consequent rise in the river bed, thereby diminishing the water holding and carrying capacity of the river passing through the City. This could also effect a change in the course of the river and may cause flooding of villages and loss of life in the low-lying parts upstream of Cuttack City.
During the peak flood time, the water flow through the river along Cuttack city is between eight to nine lakh cusecs. If the river bed continues to be on the rise, the volume of water cannot be sustained and could cause over-topping the embankments to flood the city.
“Even a truck load of such debris will impact the natural course. The impact may not be visible now but unless urgent steps are taken to check the dumping, the scenario can be very bad in the future”, executive engineer of Mahanadi Barrage division, Harsh Vardhan Mohanty said. The changes, in fact, are already manifesting.
The river has begun to surge towards the main embankments by eating into the river beds by as much as 200 metres at several places along Gadgadia ghat and Balijatra grounds.
The massive devastation caused in the upstream villages under Athgarh and Tangi-Choudwar blocks by the 2011 floods is also being attributed to the change in the river behaviour.
“We will soon be living the Mithi river experience, that had caused massive flooding in Mumbai in 2005. The devastation in the commercial soul of the country was a result of the systematic killing of Mithi river that served as the main drainage channel. The situation here is building up in the same manner while the administration and the regulatory bodies are deliberately oblivious to the dangers,” says leading gastroenterologist, Prof S P Singh, who has launched a campaign seeking protection of the river.
