CUTTACK: In a dire forewarning, the expert committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has flagged a potent threat to the Jobra barrage as well as floods in Cuttack city and areas along the embankments as a consequence of the reclamation of 426 acre of Mahanadi river bed by dumping of sand on it.There is possibility of washing away of the barrage in the event of an extreme flood situation, the panel has warned in its report to the NGT bench.
The report has stated that the 426 acre dump is on the floodplain of Mahanadi river which was submerged due to the barrage. Sand has been dumped on a stretch of 5 km length and 0.5 km to 1.2 km width on the river bed. As per the report, enhanced resistance to floodway of waters had resulted in hydrological and ecological vulnerability due to possible drastic reduction in the water retaining quantity/capacity of the reservoir.
The seven-member committee stated, “As a consequence, floodwaters may breach embankments leading to flooding of the city and human habitations located along the embankments, particularly during extreme events of flooding due to climate change, as it has happened in the past not only in India but also outside India”.‘The floodwaters may result in washing away of the barrage leading to flash floods in the downstream that not only submerge crop fields and washing away of villages but also drastically alter the downstream of river ecosystems, particularly floodplain ecosystems,’ the report further warned.
The expert committee was constituted in response to two petitions which sought intervention against the reclaiming of the river bed contending it had caused damage to the environment and the riverine eco-system. The time series of maps starting from 2007 to 2022 Google Earth also show water channels passing through the area and flooding of the area but photographs of 2021/ 2022 showed only sand. The expert committee’s report, filed by Regional Director, Central Pollution Control Board, Kolkata Mrinal Kanti Biswas, was submitted with NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata on September 1.
The committee had also unanimously observed that the 426 acre of flood plain of the riverbed has been illegally reclaimed while recommending against further expansion of the extended 34 acre Baliyatra ground on the riverbed near Gadgadia temple.