The Lakhanpur Tehsildar along with local Revenue Inspector visited the spot on Wednesday to probe an allegation of release of toxic ash water into the Sukhanara canal by the Lara-NTPC plant in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh bordering Odisha.
Tehsildar Biswakesan Pandey confirmed the allegation after taking stock of the situation. However, he said that it was not possible on his part to quantify the damage caused by the toxic water.Hundreds of farmers have cultivated crops on both sides of the canal using the ash polluted water. As a result, the cultivation is likely to be affected, said sources.
The State Pollution Control Board and the Agriculture Department have been informed to quantify the total damages in this regard. Meanwhile, the water of the canal has been blocked temporarily, the Tehsildar informed.
A detailed investigation report has been submitted to the district Collector covering all aspects, he added. The ash pond of Lara NTPC is located 150 km away from Odisha border with all three outlet gates facing towards Odisha. The polluted ash water was released via Sukhanara canal for daily 9 hours at a stretch.Besides, Sukhanara canal is mixed with Badkelo river near Dhulunda and later with the Mahanadi near Nandapali, which may pose pollution threat to the Mahanadi river also. Charpali Sarpanch Pradeep Kumar Biswal said that the situation would worsen in the coming days and the villagers would suffer from various water borne diseases by using the contaminated water. Therefore, both the Central and the State Governments should take adequate precautionary measures to save the lives of the residents, he demanded. It also said fly ash was the main cause of air pollution in the bordering Odisha area and no sincere efforts were made for the proper disposal of fly ash.