Mahanadi Banchao Andolan

Save Mahanadi outfit ups the ante

First Published : 29 Dec 2010 07:14:57 AM IST
Last Updated : 29 Dec 2010 11:52:46 AM IST

CUTTACK: The Mahanadi Banchao Andolan has upped the ante over diversion of water to industries and alleged illegalities in land acquisition, this time in particular reference to the Tata Power project at Naraj on the outskirts here. The organisation in association with the local Siddheswar Anchalik Surakshya Committee today announced it would intensify agitation against the project to protect the interests of the farmers as well as general public.
At a farmers’ rally at Naraj Marthapur, andolan leader and former minister Bijoy Mohapatra said the 1000-MW power project would have serious repercussions not only on the environment but also on agriculture, irrigation and drinking water availability in the region. Over 50,000 people of the three gram panchayats of Naraj Marthapur, Mundali and Ramdaspur would be seriously affected by the project.

The project would use about 46,684 cusec of water from the Mahanadi river which will have serious implications for water availability for different purposes. As it is the water holding capacity of the river has gone down alarmingly in the recent years, thanks to the inaction and faulty policies of the Government. Drawing of huge volume of water would lead to depletion of groundwater table while water would not be adequately available for irrigation in and around the region. Irrigation activities through Puri Main Canal, Taladanda Canal, Machagaon Canal and Gobari canal would be affected, Mohapatra warned.

Brahmani Basin Water Issues

Orissa: Jindal Steel and Power violates environment and Forest Rule at Angul

Report by Sangram Ranjan Nath, Bhubaneswar: Under construction Jindal Steel and Power ltd at Angul is now openly violated forest and environmental guideline. As a result the wild lives are on unsafe position. Deforestation is going on rapidly by Jindal with out any permission from forest department.

Neither district administration nor state government take any action against that illegal activity. Source said that Jindal illegally cutting the hill and blasting dynamite and transport the stone dust. So government loosed the revenue. Kamaria hill from Krushna Chandrapur Mouja under Banarpal Tahasil area is that example. Not only the wildlife gone away from that forest and hill area but also the stone dust mixed with the Nandira river water, which is now fully polluted.

There is no satisfied answer from district administration about this matter. The forest department is also sitting silence. Jindal also destroyed many trees and engraved the underground stone illegally and constructed his boundary wall back side of Diminia hill area at Sanakerejeng village. Villagers from that area demand that if that Diminial hill will not save from mafia and Jindal Company, immediately then it will destroy very soon.


Before Odisha wildlife committee also noticed about that illegal matter to state forest and environment department, district administration and District forest office. Villgers from Jindal affected area alleged that the company is blocked their irrigation water source and using that water in his plant work, illegally.

So that affected their occupation directly. Now central forest & environment department sent a explanation notice to Jindal .Orissa diary also asked about that matter to administration, and they said they will take step against that activity very soon.
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NRCP to Restore Water Quality in Rivers
14:39 IST
With a view to restoring water quality of rivers in the country, the Government has launched the centrally sponsored scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) which covers polluted stretches of 38 rivers in 178 towns spread over 20 States. Rivers Mahanadi and Brahmani in Orissa are among them. The pollution abatement works taken up under the Plan include interception and diversion of municipal sewage, setting up of sewage treatment plants, creation of low cost sanitation facilities, setting up of electric and improved wood crematoria and river front development. Sewage treatment capacity of 4064 mld (million litres per day) has been created so far in the country under the Plan. For improvement of water quality of lakes, the Government has undertaken a program of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) under which 61 lakes in 14 States at an estimated cost of Rs. 1028.20 crore have been covered. With the completion of the NRCP and NLCP programme and through effective operation & maintenance of the assets being created, water quality of these rivers and water bodies is expected to improve contributing to rejuvenation of their bio-diversity.

Deaths and mortality of fishes due to pollution in various rivers and water bodies have been reported. Occurrence of such in rivers and lakes are on account of depletion in oxygen and release of toxic materials due to disposal of sewage or industrial wastes.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shri Jairam Ramesh in a written reply to a question by Shri Mohan Jena in Lok Sabha today.

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SC orders infrastructure for Orissa-Andhra Inter-state Water disputes tribunal
26.11.2010 | 14:56
New Delhi
Upmanyu Trivedi


An unhappy Supreme Court today directed the Centre to provide all necessary infrastructure for a functional Inter-state Water Disputes tribunal which was set up to settle water dispute between Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The centre has been given three months time to make all arrangements.

Both states have for once joined hands to file a joint interim application before the apex court to operationalise the tribunal which was set up by a Supreme Court order dated 6.2.2009 to adjudicate dispute between the two states arising from construction of side channel and flood canal project at village Katragada on the river Vansadhara in Andhra Pradesh.

Supreme Court bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph passed the order today for providing suitable infrastructure and accommodation for all members of the Commission and judges of the tribunal.

The tribunal although was setup on February 24 this year could not start functioning for lack of infrastructure and accommodation for judges. The bench ordered "we direct union of India to provide suitable infrastructure and suitable accommodation for members within 3 months."

The bench also observed that it is unfortunate that even after one and a half years after Supreme Court order of constitution of the tribunal it is still not functional. The bench noted "we hope union of India takes immediate steps."

The state of Orissa had in February 2006 communicated to the Central Government for constitution of a tribunal to look into its grievances on construction of a flood flow canal at Katragada under section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956. The Supreme Court in a petition filed by state of Orissa had held on 6.2.2009 that, “It is now almost three years since the complaint was made by the state of Orissa but the central government has not taken any action in the matter. In this scenario, the prayer made by the state of Orissa does not appear to be unreasonable since the dispute between the two states does not confine itself to the construction of the side channel weir and the flood flow canal, but primarily involves the unilateral decision taken by the state of Andhra Pradesh to divert the river waters to the state of Andhra Pradesh, which could possibly disturb the agreement [between the two states] to share the waters of the river equally.”

JSPL Orissa facing allegations of environmental law breach

The Pioneer reported that after POSCO and Vedanta, it is now the turn of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd to face serious allegations in Odisha for violating the forest rights Act and environment clearance norms.

It has been alleged that in violation of the ministry of environment and Forests specific permission to draw water only from Brahmani River at Samal Barrage, JSPL has been illegally drawing groundwater. The lowering water table has severely affected the nearby elephant habitat, leading to an increase in the incidents of man animal conflict in nearby villages.

Mr Biswajit Mohanty environmentalist also the secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa has written to environment minister Mr Jairam Ramesh and called for the withdrawal of environmental clearance for brazen flouting of the specific condition agreed upon with the MoEF. Alleging connivance of the State Government, he said officers who failed to inform the MoEF of the violations must be brought to book.

Mr Mohanty has told the minister that construction of such a huge steel plant involved use of large quantities of water required for casting and curing of concrete foundations for machinery, offices, residential quarters, boundary wall, compaction of roads, development of green belt plantation etc.

He also pointed to condition number of the environment clearance of MoEF granted to Jindal in 2007. Mr Mohanty said that “Total requirement of the water to be drawn from Brahmani river/Samal Barrage shall not exceed 14,700 cubic metre/hour. Permission has been accorded for the withdrawal of 7,000 m/hour water for Phase I by the Department of Water Resources, Govt of Orissa, vide letter dated December 11th 2006.”

As per the MoEF condition, the company has not yet completed its pipeline from the Brahmani/Samal Barrage to the plant site for sourcing the water. But it has been carrying on civil construction…site development by digging nearly 150-200 bore wells within the plant site, from where water is being pumped out. As a result, there has been a drastic reduction in the water level at nearby reservoirs, including the Derjang Medium Irrigation Project.

Besides creating irrigation problems in the nearby villages, the drastic reduction in water level has affected the wildlife. The letter states that the area adjacent to the plant site is an elephant habitat, which is used by pachyderms while migrating from Sarkosia Tiger Reserve to Chendipada and Pallahra forest, on their way to Keonjhar forest.

As a result of the water crisis, the jumbos are straying into local villages, leading to a raging man elephant conflict in the area for two years now.

The company is setting up an integrated steel plant at Badkerjang in Angul district with 6 million tonne per annum capacity and a 1,000 MW captive plant at an investment of INR 10,000 crore.

(Sourced from www.dailypioneer.com)

Polavaram Politics

SC grants "last opportunity" to Centre on Polavaram row

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court today granted "last opportunity" to the Centre to file within three weeks its response on Orissa''s plea for quashing clearance granted by Environment Ministry to the controversial Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, which it fears would inundate several parts of the state.

A bench of Justices Mukundakam Sharma and A R Dave while passing the order also posted after 8 weeks hearing of the main suit filed by Orissa in 2007 challenging the construction of the project also known as Indira Sagar, which the Centre has agreed to treat as a national project.

The apex court gave the "last opportunity" as it was irked by the Centre''s failure to file the response despite its earlier directive on October 4.

It also asked the Andhra Pradesh Government to file its response within three weeks and allowed Maharashtra to file its impleadment application on the issue as the project had a bearing on the State''s interest too.

According to Andhra Pradesh government, the project will provide drinking water to three million people, produce 960MW of power and give 23,500 million cubic feet of water to the industries.

In its application, Orissa has urged the apex court to quash the clearance on the ground that it would affect the lives of thousands of people in the state due to the massive embankment being constructed by Andhra Pradesh.

Senior counsel Raju Ramachandran questioned the Centre''s logic in granting clearance when the construction of the project was being examined by the apex court.

Orissa has already filed a suit before the apex court challenging the construction of the multi-crore Polavaram project.

The state has argued that the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) had granted clearance to the project despite the fact that Andhra Pradesh failed to conduct the mandatory public hearing before constructing the 45-feet high embankment spread over 35 kms.

It maintained that the clearance was granted despite the fact that the dispute over the construction of the project was pending adjudication in the apex court.

The UPA government had earlier assured Andhra Pradesh government that it would accord a national status to the project, which means that a bulk of the project cost would be borne by the Centre.

Inordinate delay in execution of Polavaram Project has led to steep escalation of project cost from about Rs. 12,000 crore to over Rs. 17,600 crore now.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had during his last visit to Delhi urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to withdraw forest and environmental clearance to Polavaram project as it would submerge vast areas in Orissa''s Malkangiri district.

The Prime Minister, on his part, had assured him that the tribal villages would not be allowed to be submerged.

Initially planned by the British in 1941, the Polavaram project envisages construction of a dam on Godavari river and diversion of a large volume of water through a 174-km link canal to Krishna river.

Orissa government had first moved the Supreme Court after the MoEF had given its interim approval for the project in 2008.

Polavaram Politics

Divide between Telangana and coast hits Polavaram
Ashok Das, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Hyderabad, November 18, 2010First Published: 00:08 IST(18/11/2010)
Last Updated: 00:10 IST(18/11/2010)

The Rs 16,010-crore Polavaram dam project on the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh — already a source of anguish in Orissa and Chhattisgarh — has attracted opposition from the most unexpected quarters: leaders of the ruling Congress in Telangana. The project that may displace 1.8 lakh people in the


state, as a vast swath of land will be submerged in those states, has already been served a show-cause notice from the Union environment ministry as well.
The dam, being built for five years with more than Rs3,000 crore already expended, will submerge 276 villages in Andhra Pradesh alone. Of them, 205 villages are in Telangana.

Over 1.3 lakh people in the region, mostly the Koyas and the Konda Reddy tribesmen, will be uprooted by the project. What’s more, the project will help irrigate 7.2 lakh acres in coastal Andhra region, while Telangana will get water for only 1.33 lakh acres.

IT minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who is from the Telangana region, said, "The Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala dams were built displacing Telangana tribesmen. Now, the tribesmen are set to be displaced again due to the Polavaram project."

As the dam is expected to benefit the coastal region more than Telangana, it has added fuel to the traditional rivalry between the two regions and created a sharp divide even between the Congress leaders of the regions.

For the past 24 hours, Telangana is witnessing a wave of protests, demanding a review of the dam project. This time, however, the lead is not being by the Telangana Rastra Samiti.

The central government, in view of the protests in Telangana, may not take an early call on the project. And the environment ministry's show-cause notice has brought work on the project to a standstill.