CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the state authorities on a petition alleging non-implementation of an order issued for cleaning the polluted Petanala, a 3.6 km long water channel in Cuttack city, in 2022.
NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata issued notices to Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Water Corporation of Odisha (WATCO) and Water Resources department on a fresh petition filed by Rabeya Tabassum, a resident of the city. Advocate Afraaz Suhail made submissions on behalf of the petitioner.
“The matter requires consideration,” said the bench of B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Dr A Senthil (Expert Member) on November 8, and fixed December 24 for hearing on the allegations along with replies of the respondents.
With abundance of water hyacinths, Petanala has turned into one of the largest breeding grounds for mosquitoes and a cause for increase in incidence of malaria and dengue in CDA township area due to unchecked discharge of sewage from nearby drains, apart from the environmental pollution of alarming proportion.
On October 14, 2022, the NGT had directed the state authorities to undertake renovation of Petanala and complete the work along with connecting all drainage systems in nearby areas to the sewage treatment plant by July 2024.
According to the petition, renovation and restoration work has hardly started with the construction of sidewalls limited to a stretch of just 600 metre of the 3.6 metre long water channel that flows from sector 10 to sector 1 in CDA township.
Discharge of drain water into the water channel continues unchecked as the work on connecting drainage system to the STP near Ashwini Hospital by WATCO has not been completed, the petition alleged.