The Supreme Court of India has upheld a verdict of the Odisha High Court that imposed certain conditions on the Indian Oil Corporation ltd (IOCl) for drawing water from the Mahanadi in Cuttack for its refinery-cum-petrochemicals project at Paradip.
The court ruled that the IOC needs to carry out its corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards the poor and the people affected and dismissed the petition seeking relief from the High Court’s order.“The people of Odisha are not even getting water to drink, but you are drawing water for industrial usage. So, don’t complain. You have a lot of funds and you must spend some of your resources to carry out your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),” said a Bench of Chief Justice Hl Dattu and Justice AK Sikri.
The IOCl had filed a petition in the apex court seeking relief from the High Court’s February 2012 order that had asked the IOCl to spend approximately Rs100 crore on CSR in Cuttack for drawing water from the Mahanadi.The High Court had allowed the IOCl to draw water from the river at Hadiapatha but asked it to construct its own reservoir at Paradip to avoid drawing water during summer season or periods of water crisis.The HC had further asked the oil major to pay Rs10 crore for development of the paediatric hospital Sishu Bhavan of Cuttack, provide five ambulances for different hospitals, donate Rs3 crore to the Commissionerate Police for modernisation of traffic infrastructure and set up a water treatment plant under Public Health Department as part of its CSR.
The company was also directed to dredge the Mahanadi from Naraj to Jobra at its own cost and strengthen the river wall by using the sand and soil recovered from the riverbed. The estimated expenditure for carrying out all these directions was estimated at about Rs100 crore.