Water pollution: CMC passes the buck to Railways, Orissa HC issues notice

The court had issued orders on that day expecting the CMC to stop release of the untreated sewage into the river immediately.
Water pollution: CMC passes the buck to Railways, Orissa HC issues notice

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Monday issued notice to the East Coast Railways (ECoR), Khurda, on the issue of construction of main drain crossing under the railway track at Matrubhaban for flow of sewage from the city to Matagajapur where a sewage treatment plant (STP) is located.

The court was hearing a PIL on discharge of untreated sewage into Kathajodi river at Khan Nagar filed by general secretary of Khan Nagar Khapuria Silpanchala Puja Committee Prafulla Kumar Sahoo in 2016. Lawyer Khirod Rout appeared on behalf of the petitioner.

The notice was issued after the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) claimed before the court on Monday that delay in construction of the drain crossing under the railway track has left the civic body with no option but to divert the untreated sewage flow of main drain -1 at Matrubhaban to Kathajodi.

A bypass drain is used for this purpose by keeping the sluice gate open at Khan Nagar. Usually, the sluice gate is meant to be opened only for release of storm water if the main drain is overflowing due to heavy rainfall.

The CMC counsel Debashis Nayak claimed before the court that the work on main drain-1 crossing under the railway track at Matrubhaban was entrusted to ECoR on deposit work basis since 2014. For it, the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) had made a payment of `14.85 crore to ECoR. But it has not completed the work till date, Nayak told the court.

Taking note of it, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik posted the matter to Friday (April 8) and sought ECOR’s reply to the CMC claim by then. Accordingly, the bench issued notice to ECoR, Khurda through Assistant Solicitor General of India Prasanna Parhi.

The unchecked discharge of untreated sewage from the city into the Kathajodi river at Khan Nagar had returned to focus with the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) informing the High Court on March 28 that the situation is very alarming.The court had issued orders on that day expecting the CMC to stop release of the untreated sewage into the river immediately.

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