What has come as a shock to the environmentalists and various farmer bodies, the State Government has accorded South Korean steel major Posco the right to draw water from the Mahanadi and Hansua rivers.
Jagatsinghpur district Collector Satya Kumar Mallick has reportedly confirmed that he had received a letter from the Water Resources Department giving the company necessary permission to draw water from the two rivers. The permission was granted on May 3 by the department.The Government’s decision, which was taken while the Model Code of Conduct is still in force, is bound to trigger suspicion among the public and massive protests by farmer bodies and outfits. Questions have also been raised about the non-transparent manner in which the State Government has been dealing with a sensitive matter like sharing of Mahanadi water with a controversial private company.
Sources said the proposed Posco steel plant requires 125 cusec water, which the company wanted to draw from Mahanadi. The Water Resources department had also approved of it in 2006. Following the approval, Posco had worked out a plan to lay a pipeline from Jobra in Cuttack to Dhinkia, near the proposed Posco plant site.
However, solid resistance from farmer bodies and activist groups like the Mahanadi Bachao Samiti, Nab Nirman Krushak Sangthan as well as several NGOs had forced the Government to beat a hasty retreat.The State Government had then asked Posco to look for an alternative source of water and the latter, initially unwilling, agreed to draw limited quantities of water from Mahanadi for drinking purposes only and use Hansua river water for construction work.
Pro-Posco groups have welcomed the Government’s decision to permit Posco draw water from the Hansua river saying it would help local farmers get over water logging problems across a huge patch of agricultural land in Tirtol, Raghunathpur, Balikuda and Erasama blocks.However, they warned that they will not allow any construction work for the water linkage until their basic demands are addressed.
Meanwhile, Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) has criticised the permission to Posco to draw water from the Mahanadi and Hansua.Terming the decision of the State Government as illegal, corrupt and nontransparent, WIO convenor Ranjan Panda said since the permission to Posco was given at a time when the election code of conduct was in force, it amounted to breach of poll code.
Besides, Panda called for a need to conduct a fresh assessment of the environmental impacts of the project by which Posco would draw water from the two rivers. Panda said that initially Posco was unwilling to draw water from local sources since the water was saline. “Changing the plan to go for local ‘saline’ sources means changing technology and a fresh study of the impact of the technology on local environment is also called for,” urged Panda, demanding that the Government roll back its decision; hold public hearing meeting at Cutteck and villages depending on Hansua water; explain the quantum of water to be allocated for consumption and production in the plant and finally get a nod from the locals before deciding further on the issue.