Impact assessment of riverfront project in Cuttack soon

CUTTACK:  The National Green Tribunal (NGT)-constituted joint committee will now assess the impact of sand filling in Mahanadi river bed upstream of Jobra barrage in Cuttack. The NGT had constituted the committee on December 15, 2020 to assess the impact of the proposed riverfront improvement project and ensure that it does not cause irreversible damage to the floodplains of Mahanadi river in Cuttack.

The committee comprises representatives of Central Water Commission (CWC), nominees of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Central Pollution Control Board, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee and the State Pollution Control Board. Admitting an application on Thursday, the three-member bench of NGT headed by Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel said,

“The committee may consider the grievances of the applicant and give its consolidated report on the issue raised in the representation and report to the tribunal within two months”. The application filed by social activist Pradip Kumar Pattnaik sought intervention against the ‘illegal sand filling’ in Mahanadi for over 3 km upstream of Jobra barrage.