NGT panel will investigate encroachments on Odisha’s Mahanadi River bed

A joint committee headed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has been established to investigate claims of construction encroachment on sections of the Mahanadi river bed in the cities of Kanheipur, Bhagamba, Bhadimula, Gatiroutpatna, and Diha Sahi.

Following the petition’s filing by Shailesh Sahoo of Cuttack, the NGT’s major bench in New Delhi ordered an investigation into the situation. Sahoo had requested involvement due to the authorities’ passivity over the unauthorized structures on the riverbed and adjacent places within the boundaries of CRRI police limits and Chauliaganj.

On February 19, the panel comprising Arun Kumar Tyagi, a judicial member, and Dr. Afroz Ahmad, an expert member, said that the claims presented in the application first establish significant environmental concerns that fall within the purview of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.

“We also think it appropriate that a joint committee be constituted to verify the factual position and suggest appropriate remedial action, given the averments made in the application,” the bench said.

Representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), the district magistrate of Cuttack, the principal secretary of the State Water Resource Department, and the integrated regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Bhubaneswar, make up the joint committee.

National Green Tribunal: The Odisha government does nothing except watch the encroachment of the Mahanadi river bed.
The bench gave the joint committee instructions to convene in two weeks, visit the site, investigate the applicant’s complaints, confer with the applicant and a representative of the affected project proponents, confirm the veracity of the information, and recommend suitable corrective action to the relevant authorities.

The chief bench of the NGT sent the case for listing before its eastern zone bench on April 23 because the case’s facts and circumstances, as well as the location of the real cause of action, fell within its jurisdiction. The court ordered that the joint committee’s “factual and action taken report be filed before the eastern zone bench in Kolkata,” noting that the OSPCB will serve as the nodal body for compliance and coordination.