The rivers, Jarali and Sarali flowing through the heart of Baripada town are getting increasingly polluted day by day. As a result, the river pollution which is causing many health hazards to the residents here has become a big cause of concern.
Taking note of the worsening situation, Baripada Madhuban Development Committee secretary Bikram Keshari Jena and vice-president Raghunath Panda have recently drawn the attention of the higher authorities in this regard.
They, in a strongly-worded memorandum, have urged the State Government to do the needful at the earliest to contain the deteriorating situation.
Though the rivers Sarali and Jarali originate separately from the outskirts of the town, after flowing through the the heart of Baripada, Jarali meets and merges with Sarali, having covered some distance, and the unified Jarali-Sarali then merges with Budhabalanga, one of the two most important rivers of Mayurbhanj.
The Jarali and Sarali, in recent days, have become highly polluted due to reasons like the dirty drains of the town area linked to these rivers, exit lines of many septic tanks left open to these rivers and polythene bags, thermocol plates and dirty garbage etc dumped into the rivers.
Due to lack of proper attention by the concerned authorities, the undesirable trend even now continues unabated and, unless the problem is addressed, it is alleged, this is likely to assume alarming proportions in near future, resulting in serious health hazards in the town.
The Jarali and Sarali, already known as the cause of flood in at least five wards of the Baripada Municipality, have thus now become a cause of greater concern for pollution.