CUTTACK: The dispute over reclamation of 426 acre land on Mahanadi river bed in the city has taken a significant turn with the National Green Tribunal (NGT)-appointed expert committee finding illegality in the whole process and recommending against further expansion of the 34-acre Baliyatra ground near Gadgadia temple.
The committee has urged NGT to immediately issue direction to Odisha government to not undertake any activity in 426-acre area, dump any solid material (sand and/or solid wastes etc.), refrain from dredging of remaining islands in the pondage area and to remove all encroachments including unauthorized religious structure on the floodplain.
The committee’s report was submitted in the NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata on Thursday. Regional Director Central Pollution Control Board, Kolkata Mrinal Kanti Biswas had filed the report.The dispute centred around the contention that reclamation of a stretch of nearly 3 km of river bed had caused damage to the environment and the riverine eco-system. It had raised the height of the river bed by nearly six feet and pushed back the water stream to at least 500 metres from the bank.
The expert committee was constituted in response to the two petitions which sought intervention against the reclaiming of the river bed for commercial purposes.In the report, the committee observed, “Although the members are of the view that the floodplain has been illegally reclaimed in the river bed and there has been violation of High Court order, any attempt to restore it to original situation may create further problem and may not be economically feasible.”
The committee has unanimously recommended that the extended Baliyatra ground (34-acre) may be retained without further expanding it or raising its height and shall be used as per the High Court/NGT order.
“Neither concretization nor compacting with gravel be permitted at extended Baliyatra ground. The whole reclaimed land (426-34= 392 acre) except the 34 acre of Baliyatra ground may be used for plantation with appropriate local species and the area may be developed into a Biological Park reviving the old channel buried under sand,” the committee recommended.‘The reclaimed land must not be used for any commercial use,’ the report recommended.