CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has steered clear of the controversy over diversion of water through pipeline from Kharastrota river in Kendrapada district towards several areas in neighbouring Bhadrak and left it to the authorities concerned to take a decision on it.
The HC skirted the issue while disposing of a PIL that had sought the court’s intervention against the project that envisages diversion of the Kharasrota waters to 91 village panchayats with a population of around five lakhs in Bhadrak district for drinking purpose. While the authorities have assured that the project will only use the river’s surplus water, several panchayats of Kendrapada district are having a turmoil over the issue.
Under the banner of the Kharasrota Banchao Sangharsh Samiti, the villagers of these panchayats have been protesting the pipeline’s construction. The locals believe that due to the project, salinity in the water would increase and the river would be left dried. The two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray said: “Both the earlier writ petition as well as the present one will be treated as representations made by the petitioners to the principal secretary, panchayat raj and drinking water department.”
