The Odisha State Human Rights Commission (OSHRC) issued an order on January 8 to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to submit an action-taken report within four weeks on the ban on fishing in river Mahanadi and the Satkosia sanctuary. Human Rights Watch secretary Sangita Swain in a petition to the OSHRC stated that Forest Department officials in 2015 illegally stopped fishing by 5,000 fishermen of Cuttack, Angul, Boudh and Nayagarh districts in the Mahanadi and the Satokosia sanctuary which violates human rights. later, through an RTI application it was ascertained that there was no written order or notice to stop fishing by the fishermen. But the Forest Department is stopping fishing by lodging false cases against the fishermen.
Swain further stated that no crocodiles have died by the plastic nets used by the fishermen.