Polluted rivers never a poll issue for Cuttack

CUTTACK: For the Millennium city, which is located between two rivers Kathajodi and Mahanadi, rising pollution level in both rivers has been a major cause of concern. But this issue has failed to attract politicians.
Elections come and go but the deteriorating condition of both rivers, which are considered the lifelines of Cuttack, has never caught the attention of politicians, nor it has ever become a poll plank.This thousands of years old city depends on both rivers for its basic needs like drinking water and irrigating, but with direct discharge of untreated waste and industrial effluents, the condition of the rivers has turned critical.
Still, none of the candidates in the poll fray have made it their poll plank or promised to protect the rivers after coming to power. Cuttack has three assembly segments - Cuttack-Barabati, Cuttack-Choudwar and Cuttack-Sadar - but none of 26 candidates in the fray for these constituencies, nor even the 10 candidates contesting for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat seem bothered about the plight of the rivers. The city has been reeling from drinking water shortage and locals have in the past agitated against diversion of river water to industries.
According to reports of the Central Pollution Control Board, the Kathajodi and Mahanadi rivers are badly polluted in the downstream and the water is not fit for consumption, bathing or irrigation.
Findings of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board on the water quality of Mahanadi and Kathajodi in 2013 also suggests that stretches of the rivers have been moderately polluted. "In case of Kathajodi, the situation is more alarming as it falls under level C category. It means the river water cannot be used without proper treatment for consumption and agriculture work," a senior scientist with OSPCB B N Bhol.
"There is an urgent need to set up a sewage treatment plant in the city, "added Bhol
"For a city like Cuttack, which is surrounded by rivers on two sides, the protection and preservation of rivers is very importance. Politicians are promising to provide drinking water and irrigation facilities to the electorate, but how they will manage to do this without protecting the rivers?" asked Ranjan Panda, noted water rights activist.
"The rivers are much more polluted and their condition is more critical than what the reports of pollution control boards suggest. Encroachment on the riverbed, sand mining and release of untreated drainage and sewerage is leading to the slow death of Kathajodi and Mahanadi but unfortunately our politicians have never highlighted it in their manifestos," added Panda.
Residents also feel that rivers have been neglected time and again by the candidates. "It is very painful but true that candidates who are contesting the election and those who won from the city in the past never showed any interest in protection of the rivers. In the current situation, the preservation of Kathajodi and Mahanadi should be the top priority of politicians," said 79-year-old litterateur Annada Prasad Ray.
He said, "In our childhood, we never imagined that Cuttack would ever face water scarcity as water was abundant then. But in the last few decades, we have ruined everything. The lusty blue rivers have turned into a garbage dumping yard."
"The city is staring at a serious water crisis if timely measures are not taken to protect the rivers, "said Dharmesh Das, a senior citizen.