PARADIP: Even as the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has time and again been apprised about the pollution of Taladanda canal, considered the lifeline for farmers of Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack districts, no step is being taken to clean it. The canal is covered with unwanted vegetation and weeds. Untreated sewage is being dumped into it.
The canal originates from Cuttack near Jobra barrage and gets divided into two sub-branches, Taladanda and Machhagaon canal. The main canal’s 13-km long stretch from Cuttack to Biribati and its 20 km stretch between Kujang and Atharbanki in Jagatsinghpur district are highly polluted due to release of effluent from industries, dumping of debris and growth of weeds. Taladanda canal irrigates 22,000 hectares (ha) of land in Jagatsinghpur district but its water has turned black due to heavy contamination.
Fish population in the canal has also come down due to prolonged bouts of hypoxia (decrease in oxygen levels). The canal between Kujang and Atharbanki is covered with weeds, which has not been cleaned for several years. To make things worse, discharge of untreated sewage from hospitals, nursing homes, industries, fertiliser plants, dry-fish units and hotels into the canal has been going on unabated.
Environmentalists alleged that no step is being taken to clean the canal and level of fecal contamination is high. Waste from slaughterhouses are also dumped into the canal, they said, adding that open defecation on the embankments of the canal is another issue that the local administration has to look into.SPCB Regional Officer Mukesh Mahaling said a team of officials collect water samples from polluted points of the canal every month for examination.