Drive begins to clean rivers in Odisha's Baripada to prevent waterlogging

Sources said the district administration is yet to demarcate government and private land and is not aware of the type of land on which the houses have been constructed.

Sarali River (Photo | Express)

BARIPADA : The Mayurbhanj district administration has started cleaning Jarali, Sarali and Sukjoda rivers passing through eight wards of Baripada municipality to ensure smooth flow of rainwater into the water bodies.

After a report, published in The New Indian Express on July 3, over illegal construction of houses on the river banks, Mayurbhanj collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde had ordered the executive officer of Baripada municipality to inquire into the matter. On Sunday, the collector in a post on X intimated the Housing and Urban Development department and the special relief commissioner of the administration’s drive to clear obstructions from the river banks to ensure smooth flow of rainwater to the water bodies.

It was alleged that the apathy of Minor Irrigation department and district administration has led to illegal construction of houses on the river banks due to which water from wards of the municipality get stagnated leading to waterlogging in the town. The Minor Irrigation department had spent Rs 35 lakh for constructing guard walls on both sides of the rivers three years back but several of the structures collapsed due to poor quality of work.

Baripada municipality chairman Krushnanda Mohanty had asked the tehsildar of Baripada to probe whether the structures on the banks of the rivers were constructed on government or private land. But the report is yet to be submitted, he said.

Sources said the district administration is yet to demarcate government and private land and is not aware of the type of land on which the houses have been constructed. The residents of eight wards near the rivers face artificial flooding during monsoon every year.

They had urged the district administration to first demarcate government land near the rivers and then should start cleaning the river bed. They had further said if the district administration did not take any step in this regard, they would take up the matter with the chief minister and Housing and Urban Development department.