About 500 people of Aul and Rajkanika blocks under the banner of the Kharasrota Banchao Sangram Samiti(KBSS) on Sunday joined a mass rally at Bharigada Gadagadi ghat in Rajkanika block protesting against the State Government’s decision to set up Rs 892 crore proposed mega drinking water project on river Kharashrota near Barunadiha village.
Environmentalist and social activist Prafulla Samantara, Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti president Abhaya Sahu, former Congress MLA of Aul Debendra Sharma, former Congress MLA of Rajnagar Anshuman Mohanty, former MLA of Aul (now in BJP) Dolagobinda Nayak, Congress leader Dharanidhar Nayak, Satya Nayak, Brajasundar Bhuiyan, Amiya Pandav and Ali Kishore Patnaik joining the mass convention spewed venom against the State Government for the anti-people move.
Former MLA Debendra Sharma, who is an adviser of the KBSS, said, “The Kharasrota river is our lifeline. People of Kendrapada completely depend on it for their drinking and agricultural requirements. If a barrage at the tail end of the river is erected to restrict the water flow into the sea, then we welcome it.
The State Government should first announce to set up barrage at the tail end of the river to conserve water, and then we would allow it to go on. However, if there is any conspiracy to divert water from here for supplying the same to other areas, we will continue to oppose it.”
As people of the duo blocks depends on the Kharasrota river , if water would be extracted for the mega pipe water project then water flow would decrease and the salinity of the water will increase. The local residents would face acute drinking water scarcity, the speakers at the rally told.
Notably, in October when the pipes for the mega project reached here, the locals staged a protest. Last week over 2,000 locals had formed a massive two km-long human chain at Rajkanika in the district against the project.