Court stays construction on Mahanadi river bed

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Friday imposed an interim stay on construction activities at Hadia Patha area on the Mahanadi river bed.
A high court bench of Justice B P Das and Justice M M Das has directed the district administration and the Cuttack Development Authority to stop construction activities in the area until the next hearing of the case.
The bench also directed the Cuttack DCP to submit a report on the details of the construction, about the company undertaking the work and its purpose within August 12.
The court's direction came in response to a petition filed by a lawyer, Nishikant Mishra, opposing construction work on the Mahanadi river bed. The petitioner has cited that the provisions of Wetland Conservation and Management Rules 2010 were clearly violated in the construction activities at Hadia patha. The petitioner has further mentioned that the private company was carrying out the construction work without the nod of the appropriate authorities.
The petition further said the illegal construction work would result in acute degradation of the Mahanadi river mouth and would also pose serious threat to Cuttack. The petitioner urged the court to intervene in the serious matter and to order a CBI probe into it.
"The court has imposed an interim stay on the construction activities at Hadiapatha and issued notices to all the parties in the case,' said petitioner Nishikant Mishra. The court will hear the case again on August 12.
Meanwhile, protest against the construction work has started gaining momentum. Political parties cutting across party lines staged agitation and dharna against the construction activities on Friday.
Leaders of both the Congress and the BJP have raised their voices against the ongoing construction work. Congress workers gheraoed the office of the revenue divisional commissioner with their demandto halt the construction work immediately.
BJP staged a dharna outside the collector's office. The leaders of the BJP submitted a memorandum to the collector to take measures to stop the illegal construction work as it would pose serious threat to Cuttack.
"We strongly oppose the construction activity and will intensify the agitation if the construction work is not stopped immediately," said Suresh Mohapatra, congress leader.