VOLUME 1; ISSUE 3
JULY—SEPTEMBER, 2010
News Papers Covered
(all Bhubaneswar Editions)
• The Samaj
• The Sambad
• The Dharitri
• The Pragatibadi
• The Khabar
• The New Indian Express
Web News
• Orissa Diary
• Meri News
• Sify Finance
Inside this issue:
Mahanadi
MBA
Baitarani, Brahmani,
Subarnarekha, Indravati,
Vamshadhara
Rushikulya
Draft IWRM Road Map
Drying Rivers
River Linking Demand
In the Blog
Flooding investment!
Rivers for Industries?
Is the Mahanadi Water
going to sea wasted?
River Basin Transact -
A Quarterly News Transact Across Odisha’s River Basins
An attempt to put together River Basins’ news in Odisha published in local dailies—
5 Odia and 1 English News Paper, along with other information and analysis
related to Odisha’s Rivers to enhance basin literacy, to catalyze basin concerns and
crystallize opinions towards Inclusive and Democratic River Basin Governance
As Odisha Industrialize,
Revolutions around Its Rivers Crystallize
Odisha’s mass reckonings and socio-ecological renaissance in response
to its rapid and massive industrialization drive is now quite well known
in terms of protests and social movements around Gandhamardns
(BALCO), Gopalpurs (Tata), Kashipurs (HINDALCo/Utkal), Kalinganagars
A humble Initiative
(Tata), Niyamgiris (Vedanta) and Dhikias (Posco). However, very little is
from
known about to a new yet significant water-movement that is slowly
Baitarani Initia-
emerging across Odisha silently yet quite robustly with overwhelming
tive,
participation of an awakened civil society reinforced with political en-
Odisha State Cen-
dorsements.
ter, FPWCI &
Revolutions around Odisha’s Rivers is spreading very fast over past Odisha Water Fo-
few months from its north to south, around big rivers to drainage chan- rum
nels accommodating in its bandwagon a gamut of structural, environ- To Enhance
mental, economic and cultural issues. Civil societies’ appreciations and Basin Literacy
concerns over Odisha’s river is fast becoming loud and clear. They are and Raise
now worried about the massive pollution, unmindful and unjust water Basin Concerns
allocation, dwindling environmental flows and biodiversity erosion in
their rivers. They are concerned about the way their lifelines, their holy
2-3 rivers being used and abused. They are now able to comprehend and
apprehend the threats to their culture and livelihoods.
We are also planning
4 The reflections of these appreciations, realizations and concerns are to add some other
fast unfolding with movements around its rivers getting manifested one features like know-
5 after another. While, Mahanadi Banchao Anodalan (MBA) has emerged your-basin, basin-
over concerns of water allocation to industries from Jobra, farmers and analysis and other
locals in Jagatsinghpur are now rallying together to save Hansua from articles related to
6 POSCO. There were also movements earlier to save ‘the Brah- River Basin from next
mani’ (Brahmani Anchal Suraksha Parishad) from pollution and small issue. Please contact
rivers like ‘Alaka’ from siltation. Baitarani Surakshya Manch has now us if you want to
been formed to protect the holy river from the clutches of industrializa-
tion. Movements in south Odisha to save Rushikulya ( Rushikulya
7 Banchao Mancha )by linking to the Mahanadi, protect Vamshadhara from
mining and projects in Andhra, free Nagavali from pollution by paper Looking forward to
mills are also manifestations of such community aspirations. your suggestions and
opinions to make it
8 It is time now Govt to take note of these river revolutions and intelli-
more effective, pur-
gentsia to feed them with right science and knowledge to enable them
posive and meaningful.
with informed choices and strategic voices.
 Page 2
RIVER BASIN TRANSACT

The Mahanadi

The
Pragatibadi
28.09.10
Displaced people of Brutang project protest against the project
Irriga- The
tion People of Chamundia and Badasingha panchayat demands to expe- Pragatibadi
Projects dite the work of Brutang irrigation project. 24.09.10

Catchment Area : The New

Lower suka tel river project will be completed by October.
1,41,134 Sq km Indian
Orissa: 65,628, Express
Jharkhand:132 20.09.2010
Chhatisgarh:75136
Maharashtra:238 Rainfall and Reservoir Status
Several rivers of Mahanadi basin have started swelling after inces-
sant rains across the state.
The inflow of water to the dam has gone up to 2,87,000 cusecs due
to rain upstream and the outflow is 21,7000 cusecs.
First flood water from Hirakud discharged and 3 main gates opened
up. Eight sluice gates of Hirakud dam were kept open with the wa-
ter level being recorded at 611.87 feet.
Length: Continuous rain triggers the flood situation in the Mahanadi
Orissa:494 km,
Chhatisgarh:357 km Embankments in danger/ Weak embankments
Population (2001): Mahanadi– Luna– Chitrotapala system in Nishintakoili block
Kathajodi and the Chitrotapala
34,21,612
Devi river in Govindapur Different
Forest: 2302 Thousand Kathajodi, Devi, Hansua and Biluakhai rivers News
Ha Kuakhai river papers;
The state govt. decided to strengthen the embankments of the Tel, also re-
the Hati, and the Udanti rivers to deal with the flash floods in Kala- ported
Flood
handi and Nabarangpur districts. partly in
Govt of Odisha decides to take action plans for the repair of weak the Flood
embankments in Odisha Alerts
issued this
Flood Situation year
Flood in the Luna and the Chitrotapala creating problems in the
Marsaghai block.
Many rivers are in spate and govt. has moved rescue teams. Kala-
handi, Nabarangpur districts bear the brunt . These districts experi-
enced first floods of the season.
Kalampur, Temara, Khangaraguda, Balichhada villages of Kalahandi
faces many problems due to this flood of the river Tel and Hati
Mahanadi flooding creates problems in Athamallik area.
Most of the lands are waterlogged due to the flood in Tel and Uttei.
Daya river flooding submerged most of the agricultural lands of
Kanasa area.
Central govt. should help the people of Kalahandi who are suffered
by flood of the river Hati and Tel.

MAHANADI BACHAO ANDOLAN(MBA)

• MBA demands separate commission on Mahandi river :Bhubaneswar, Jul 18 : The Mahanadi Bachao Andolon (MBA)
today demanded a separate commission be constituted on the pattern of Kaveri Commission in Tamilnadu to study the
Mahanadi river system and decide the availability of water for irrigation and industrial houses. MBA is a new outfit agitat-
ing against the industrial houses drawing water from Mahanadi river.

• Halt diversion of Mahanadi water to industries: MBA to Orissa : Bhubaneswar, July 18 (PTI) Mahanadi Banchao
Andolan (MBA) today appealed to the Orissa government to immediately halt diversion of the river water to industries and
demanded setting up a committee to analyse water availability in the Mahanadi.

• Pressure mounts on Naveen to stop water supply to industries from Mahanadi : Bhubaneswar, July 18 (ET Bu-
reau) The Naveen Patnaik government has come under pressure to discontinue water supply to industries from Mahanadi
River and form Water Commission to study water availability in the state's largest river.
VOLUME 1; ISSUE 3 Page 3

The Cuttack Banchao Committee led by prominent citizens first launched

a campaign to make the public aware of the dangers posed by drawl of
water from the Mahanadi River by industries, initially by IOC(Indian Oil
Corporation). People of Cuttack city led a strike to not allow drawl of wa-
ter from Jobra by the industries. Prominent citizens of the district joined
hands to make public aware about the need of the Mahanadi water meet-
ing the demand of agriculture first then to supply to the industry. There
was also a mass rally against not giving water to industry and to make
public aware of the dangers posed by the drawl of water from the river
by industries. Setting the tone for building up of people's movement
against diversion of water from the Mahanadi river to industries, the BJP
held a rally in the Cuttack city on 15th July to protest the move of the
govt. The protests blown to take the shape of a full blown agitation by
the people of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Puri in the name of
Conflicts around Water allocation to Industry

Mahanadi Banchao Andolan against diversion of the Mahanadi water to

industry. With Hirakud water conflict between irrigation and industry still
remaining unresolved, fast crystallization of another social movement
around similar cause on the same river downstream, in a politically more
sensitive area, making a beginning with support of major opposition par-

Several News papers

ties and strong opposition leaders seem to be building up pressure on the
Govt. The resistance movement has also knocked the doors of Governor
seeking his intervention on the issue. On the other hand state cabinet
ministers responded with statistic and arguments around availability of
‘surplus water’ in the river and that most of them are going down to the
sea as waste.

Newspapers published view points of both, those who support the water
allocation to industries and others who opposed it quoting their statistics
and rhetorics in support of their claims.

As per the protagonists, the Industries in Odisha, are drawing less water
than allocated. The current industrial demand for water in the state is
only 4.2% of the annual average flow. It was also reported that taking
notice of unauthorized drawl of water by 15 industries different rivers,
Govt has collected penalty to the tune of Rs.2 crore during 2009-10. A
cabinet minister rejected demand of Mahanadi Banchao Andolon for con-
stitution of a commission to examine different aspects of the river water
use terming it irrelevant. He said agreements have been signed with 35
industries for supply of water from the Naraj barrage but only 8 are
drawing water from the barrage. While there remains many question
marks and further questions on these statistics (viz. regarding total
amount allocated to industry, actual withdrawals substantiated by sound
monitoring; dependability of the annual average flow, requirement of
environmental flow and the flow to meet other livelihoods and ecosystem
needs downstream etc.), media coverage of counter arguments and sta-
tistics has not been adequate.

However, towards the end of the quarter, either in response to the MBA
or to strategically position itself to face the Meena Gupta Committee (on
POSCO), state Govt. came out with a proposal to provide water to POSCO
from Hansua river, a drain in the Jagatsinghpur district. This too has seen
lots of opposition from the local farmers, politicians and others in form of
rallies and meetings at Paradeep, Erasama etc. Quite expectedly, state
cabinet ministers also came out with similar counter arguments regarding
‘surplus’ availability and those going to sea as waste. Though at a point
MBA had welcomed the decision to shift from the Mahanadi and Jobra to
Hansua, later it was found to support the opposition movement. The op-
position group claims that apart from severely affecting kharif (Hansua
water used as supplemental irrigation) and rabi (mainly vegetables along
the river bank) crops, the proposed embankment for harvesting water for
POSCO, will also add to waterlogging and submersion of highly fertile
farmlands. They also believe that irrigation from Taladanda Canal will also
reduce, as the Hansua, being a carrier of its seepage water, will draw
more due to higher uptake in the downstream by the industry.
 Page 4
RIVER BASIN TRANSACT

The Baitarani
The Khabar
Baitarani river flooding is the major problem for Bhadrak dis- Samaja
trict. But no concrete steps being taken to control the flood 05.08.2010
situation. The
Three blocks of Bhadrak district are danger due to flood of the Khabara
river Baitarani. Five villages of Bhandaripokhari block is in 23.07.2010
Catchment Area: 14,218
The
Sq km danger due to the flood of the river Baitarani.
Flood & Em- Khabara
Orissa:13482, Weak embankments of the Baitarani is worsening flood situa-
bankments 04.07.2010
Jharkhand:736 tions in many villages, but Govt seems to be not keen to take The
Population Density: 269 / up their repair timely. Sambad
Sqkm
Weak embankment in Salandi is also the worry of Bhadrak as 18.08.2010
Rainfall:
Max3094 mm-, Min 642 mm they yield every year during flood, destroying local livelihoods The
and affecting local agriculture. Dharitri
19.07.2010

Baitarani Suraksha Manch has been formed to save the holy

river from the impact of massive industrialization. About 37
factories including the Tata Steel and mines, EP Tata, Essar
Institutions and others like the Odisha Sponge Iron Factory and Jindal are The
& Govern- already using its water. Now BRPL plans to use waters of Bai- Pragatibadi
ance tarani for transportation through pipe making an extra profit 20.09.2010
of Rs 864 crores by saving transportation through lorries and
trucks.

The Brahmani

Brahmani getting polluted day by day due to the heavy dis-

charge of industrial wastes into the river
Catchment Area : 39,116 The Samaj
Ash pond of N T P C kaniha is broken and ash now enters 29.08.2010
Sqkm
Orissa:22516, Jharkhand:
indirectly in to the water of the river Tikira, a tributary of the The Samaj
15700, Chhtisgarh:900 Brahmani. This breach in embankment has also washed away 10.09.2010
Population Density:236 / the paddy crops in near about 100 acres. The Khabar
Pollution 20.09.2010
Sqkm The Brahmani water is polluted due to industrial effluents.
Annual Rainfall: The surface of the river water is covered with black layer of The
Max:2654 mm, Min:380.4 mm industrial effluents. Near about 38 industrial hubs drain their Dharitri
20.09.2010
effluents into the river. The riparian community are facing lots
Oil layer in Brahmani of difficulties, as most of them also depend upon the river
worries people on the water for drinking purpose
bank The
TALCHER: A Layer of oil and dust Due to the flood of the river Kani, Mangalpur of Jajpur district Samaja
on the water of the river Brahmani 06.07.2010
is in danger
has led to panic among the people Flood & The
living upstream of Samal barrage.
The embankments of Samal barrage is in dangerous condition
Embank- Sambad
A blue coloured oil layer is clearly in absence of repairs and maintenance. 31.08.2010
ments
visible upstream of Samal barrage The state govt. has decided to strengthen the weak embank- The
upto 10 km, informed villagers of ments of Brahmani-Kelua-Birupa system. Samaja
Seepur and Durgapur, located on 25.08.2010
the banks of the river. Every bucket
of water drawn from the river con-
Institutions & Branmani Banchao a civil society movement ,demands dredg- The Khabar
tains oil, they alleged.
Governance ing of the river bed. 29.09.2010
The villagers, to their surprise, also
find the water warm like in summer The New
which is unusual during this time of Human Rights Commission directed the district administration Indian
the year. Some others complained Project Express
to construct a bridge over the Kani river.
of fly ash polluting the air. 20.09.2010

But none points to any particular

industry for the pollution. They
apprehend that oil leakages from
industries in the localities may be a
factor.
Salinity rise in water driving crocs to stray from habitats
PTI, Sep 21, 2010, 10.57am IST
KENDRAPARA (Orissa): Rising salinity in the waters of the Bhitarkanika river system is
driving crocodiles towards other water bodies close to human habitation.
 VOLUME 1; ISSUE 3 Page 5

The Indravati
Heavy rains in the catchment areas led to flash floods in the The Indian
Hati and the Kamal rivers besides several rivulets of the dis- Express,
trict. Surplus water from the Mangalpur barrage of Indravati Samaja,
project has been released into the Hati river. With the release Sambad
06.08.2010
of water the reservoir level of barrage has come down from
The Sambad
265 feet to 263 feet reducing the pressure on the barrage 07.08.2010
and averting a major breach. Catchment Area (Total):
The Sambad 20,427 Sqkm
Most of the villages of Nabarangpur are water logged due to 10.08.2010 Orissa:10,300, Andhra
the flood of the river Indravati. More than 29,000 families of The Indian Pradesh:10,127
Nabarangpur are water logged due to the flood of the river express/ Population Density: 161 /
Flood Indravati. The road over Nagi river Hatabarandi washed away 07.08.2010 Sqkm
due to flash floods disrupting communication between Umer- The Sambad, Annual Rainfall:
kote and Nabarangpur. Navy team joins rescue mission. The Samaja, Max:4427.6 mm, Min:562.3
The Khabara, mm
About 200 children were trapped in a school building in a
village marooned by flood waters in the Nabarangpur dist. IE, Dharitri
07.08.2010
Govt. launches relief operations for the marooned of Na- The Pragati-
barangpur district. Trapped students of Kerandimala village badi
were rescued by the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force 07.08.2010
(ODRAF) team. The Samaja/
Opposition party of Odisha stated that the flood of Nabarang- 07.08.2010
pur and Kalahandi districts are man-made.
Breach in the Right Main Canal of Indravati project exposed The New
the poor maintenance and callous attitude of the project au- Indian Ex-
Project press
thorities. Due to the breach, nearby paddy fields have been
severely eroded by the sudden gush of water. 18.07.2010

The Subarnarekha
The
Khabar.
Chief Minister conducted the meeting over the development
18.08.2010 Catchment Area (Total):
Project of subarnarekha project.
The 19,277 Sqkm
Port on Subarnarekha mouth uncertain
Pragatibadi Orissa:2983, Jharhand:13222 ,
28.09.2010 WB:3022
Population Density:386 /
Sqkm
Annual Rainfall:
The Vamsadhara Max:3846 mm, Min:577 mm

The
Flood The flood in Vamsadhara affected the livelihood in many Samaja
villages 26.07.10

Stay on Mahendra Tanaya will continue till the next date of

hearing, Supreme Court.
The Dharitri
Vansadhara water distribution tribunal will start its hearing
10.09.2010
Project from next November 23. Before that the tribunal today or-
dered both Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to submit their re-
09.09.2010 Catchment Area (Total):
spective views within 6 weeks. On the other hand, status
11,377 Sqkm
quo will be maintained on construction of Katraguda barrage Orissa:8960, Andhra
on the river Vansadhara till further orders. Pradesh:2417
Population Density: 114 /
State's ‘attitude' on river waters flayed Sqkm
BHUBANESWAR: The Southern Orissa Development Council (SODC), a people's forum, here on Annual Rainfall:
Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the State government for its alleged indifferent ap- Max:2591 mm, Min:410 mm
proach to utlising river water.
The criticism came in wake of possibility of submergence of more than 20 villages in Orissa by
Polavaram project of Andhra Pradesh. Addressing a press conference here, Dayanidhi Sahoo,
president of SODC, said successive governments in Orissa had failed to realise potential of riv-
ers passing through southern districts and as a result Andhra Pradesh was planning project af-
ter project using runoff water from Orissa rivers, it said.
 Page 6
Catchment Area: 8,963 Sqkm
Ganjam:7366, Khurda:56
Gajpati:398,Kandhamal:800,
Nayagarh:343
Population (2001): 29,42,901
Density: 328 / Sqkm
Annual Rainfall:
Max:2553 mm, Min:257 mm
Dying Rivers
Farmers, fishermen lose liveli-
hoods
Amarnath Parida
First Published : 27 Aug
2010
PARADIP: Many rivers, con-
sidered the lifeline of Ja-
gatsinghpur, have either
dried up or are polluted with
industrial waste and sewer-
age.
The Alaka river that was
flowing through Biridi, Ja-
gatsinghpur, Balikuda,
Raghunathpur and Nuagaon
blocks has completely dried
up. The rivers like Chhata-
gunthi, Gaichara at Biridi,
Kathjodi, Sukapaika, Asurk-
hajoer in Raghunathpur,
Balia, Saharapentha, Machi-
yadiha in Kujang, Magura
Mohan in Balikuda and
Galani in Nuagaon have met
with similar fate. These riv-
ers provided irrigation water
to around 776 hectares be-
sides giving fishermen their
livelihood
http://river-
ba-
sin.blogspot.com/2010/08/
dying-rivers.html
RIVER BASIN TRANSACT
The Rushikulya
The Pragati-
Project Water will be supplied to Berhampur town from Kanibili dam. badi
30.09.10
Draft IWRM Road Map of Odisha
Under the Orissa Integrated Irrigated Agriculture and Water Management Investment
Programme (OIIAWMIP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting the Orissa
State Government, through a Technical Assistance (TA) Program to establish and operate
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This is occurring at the state and in
some selected river basin levels with stakeholder consultations and awareness, and ca-
pacity building of the concerned sector organizations.
As per the framework, the State Government will be assisted for two activities:
(1) Formulation of the institutional framework of IWRM (including appropriate functions,
institutional setup and arrangements, and associated legal and regulatory basis) and a
work plan for establishing and putting into operation the recommended framework.
(2) Facilitating the operation of IWRM in the Baitarani River basin with the establishment
of a participatory river basin organization (RBO) following the existing OSG regulation
with necessary refinements, and supporting the initial functions (including inventorying of
water--‐related data and information, participatory multi--‐sectoral coordination on water
resources management and investment planning).
The Draft final Report of the framework, authored by Dr Bruce Hooper, Principal, DHI
India, and Dr Bitanjaya Das, DHI India and Head, KIIT, DHI Centre for Water Modeling &
Professor & Dean, School of Civil Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa and
Mr Ian Whan is available at ……….. DHI is an independent research and consultancy or-
ganisation, formed by Danish Hydraulic Institute.
Orissa Water Planning Organization (OWPO), WRD now seeks feedback on this roadmap
before 10th November 2010.
Immediate concern of Civil Society to a presentation on this by the Consultants and
OWPO team is available at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39607760/IWRM-Meeting-Minutes
Panda demands linking of rivers in Orissa
Berhampur (Orissa), Aug 11 (PTI) Demanding quick steps to link Rushikulya and
Mahanadi rivers in Orissa, former deputy speaker of the state assembly Ram Chandra
Panda has asked the Central Water Commission (CWC) to implement the long-standing
proposal for the benefit the people of southern region." I have impressed upon the CWC
about the benefits of linking the two rivers", he said. After seeing the project report, the
CWC had assured him to look into the project, he claimed adding that he had submitted a
memorandum to the CWC in this regard. The connectivity between Mahanadi and Rushi-
kulya and construction of a barrage near Dasapalla would not only solve the perennial
drinking water crisis of Berhampur town but would also help the farmers in Ganjam dis-
trict by creating additional irrigation facilities, the BJP leader said. Panda, chairman of
Rushikulya Banchao Manch (RBM), the outfit spearheading an agitation in support of link-
ing the two rivers with River Bansadhara as well, said state government had promised to
implant the project, but later abandoned it.Major portion of Rushikulya flows through
Ganjam district and the Mahanadi through Cuttack district. River Vansadhara flows in
Gajapati and Rayagada districts. Connecting the three rivers would also solve the fre-
quent floods in river Vansadhara in Rayagada and Gajapati districts, he said. Stating that
he had been demanding connectivity between Rushikulya and Mahanadi since 2000,
Panda said the then prime minister Atal Behari Bajpayee had appreciated the proposal
when he was apprised about it. Panda had made a detailed project report through a re-
tired chief engineer of irrigation department.
 Page 7
RIVER BASIN TRANSACT

Rivers of Orissa
In the Blog..
Sl. Name of the Catchment Area (SqKm) Water Resources (MCum)
There have been some
No. River Basin
important developments Total Area Within % to Geo. 75% Depend- Average
around Odisha’s river Orissa Area of State able
during last quarter. If you
have missed the news 1 Mahanadi 141134 65628 42.15 48732 59155
catch them up @ Our Blog
2 Brahmani 39116 22516 14.46 14011 18577
• Polavaram
• POSCO 3 Baitarani 14218 13482 8.66 5434 7568
• MBA (Mahanadi
Bachao Andolan) 4 Kolab 20427 10300 6.61 8885 11089

5 Rushikulya 8963 8963 5.76 2782 3949

6 Vansadhara 11377 8960 5.75 3881 5083

7 Indravati 41700 7400 4.75 4451 6265

'Flooding' Invest- Burhabalanga &
ments 8 6691 6354 4.08 2521 3111
Jambhira

9 Nagavali 9275 4500 2.89 2322 2853

Traditionally unheard of, flood
has become a regular feature in
these rivers, thanks to our river 10 Subernarekha 19277 2983 1.92 2308 2308
managers and decision makers.
These man-made floods are the 11 Bahuda 1118 890 0.57 213 438
result of diversion of Indravati
water, which after power pro-
Draining into Sea 3731 2.40
duction, flows to the narrow-
channel of the Hati, subse-
quently draining to the Tel. It is Total 100.00 95540 120397
a fact that it is the water of
Indravati that is causing flash Source: Orissa State Water Plan - 2004
floods in these rivers of late.

The arrogance and shortsight- Rivers for Industries?

edness of the mainstream river
management paradigm is
clearly evident in this example,
where at one point, investment
is made to cause flood (by
diverting water) and then fur-
ther investment is justified at
another point to control flood.
Is it a sheer coincidence that
while both the interventions
suit engineers, contractors and
politicians, it is the people who
suffer - be it the downstream
inhabitants of Indravati suffer-
ing from water exclusion or the
communities in the river banks
of Hati, Tel and Udanti facing
flash floods.
Who are our rivers for any
way?
http://river-
basin.blogspot.com/2010/09/
flooding-investments.html
Shifting water hole: POSCO going for Hansua leaving the
Mahanadi
Our Mr Secretary, WRD is also falling trap to the same 'river water going to sea is a
waste' belief, that our Ministers have earlier fallen to. Kudos to their advisors, mar-
ried to this 'engineering paradigm'! They have been successful in perpetuating and
implanting this dangerously wrong belief in the minds of decision makers. This
shows the urgent need of carrying out damage control awareness and sensitization
campaign among our bureaucrats and politicians on the understanding of our rivers
in entirety and the implications of environmental flow.
At the same time, it is also difficult to understand, how a barrage downstream will
solve the problems of water logging in Hansua, as the Secretary has put it. Civil
society must also seek to know the basis of calculation which claims 'excess' water
in Hansua.
Mahanadi Banchao Andolan, being a movement to safeguard the interests of com-
munities and river, in stead of welcoming this move, must ask for a detailed assess-
ment of impact of this barrage on lives and livelihoods the communities and farmers
in Hansua sub-basin

News items on this topic available at: http://river-basin.blogspot.com/search/label/

posco & http://river-basin.blogspot.com/search/label/MBA
An attempt to put together River Basins’ news in Odisha published in local
dailies—5 Odia and 1 English News Paper, along with other information and
analysis related to Odisha’s Rivers to enhance basin literacy, to catalyze
basin concerns and crystallize opinions towards Inclusive and Democratic
River Basin Governance

P R Choudhury,
N-3/412, IRC Village
Bhubaneswar—751015
E-mail: baitarani@gmail.com
Website : www.baitarani.org

VISIT OUR
Concept, Design and Editing
BLOG:
Pranab R Choudhury LIVES OF RIVERS &
Compilation
LIVELIHOODS OF PEOPLE
Niyati & Priyabrata,

Is the Mahanadi Water going to sea not used/unutilized/waste?

During 5th and 6th Aug , two Senior Ministers of the State have made two different yet significant remarks (see news link below) about water allocation
from the Mahanadi- but both have made the same argument that water which goes to sea in the Mahanadi is not used/utilized or has no users. It is a
dangerous thinking, almost toeing the line of Engineering (an economic) paradigm of river management which believes that water going (or draining!) to
sea is a waste and therefore there should be as many storages and diversions as possible and that such waters stored/channelized should be put to
economic uses.

However, it is now a fact that such paradigm has lead to disastrous consequences leading to close river basins (viz. Krishna), more floods, depletion of
mangroves, stopping of formation of delta, ingression of salinity, dwindling aquatic biodiversity, losing of fishermen’s livelihoods, destruction of river-
bank livelihoods including agriculture apart from negative implications on culture. It is quite surprising that, while dams are being decommissioned, envi-
ronmental flows (not in the line, dominant thinking in India i.e. allowing about 15% of to flow in the river as environmental flow and abstracting others
for economic use) and living (and undammed) rivers are becoming symbols of future river management elsewhere in the World, our decision makers are
tirelessly defending the failed paradigms.

A river lives when it flows. It has to flow to remain live. By flowing a river
o flushes its channels (doesn’t allow sedimentation and rising of river beds),
o recharge sub-surface water (there is a saying that below every river, another sub-surface river runs),
o supports aquatic fauna including fisheries and livelihoods around them
o support riparian habitats through river-bank livelihoods
o creates delta/flood plains (through overflowing and spreading silt)

People living in Mahanadi delta don’t require to be told about its dwindling flows, increased sedimentation of the river bed, increasing flood damages,
increasing threats of saline ingression and change in tidal patterns, reduction of aquatic biodiversity and fish catches so on and so forth. In stead of
substantiating allocation to industry by making such statements about how much water is draining unused to sea, what is required is instituting scientific
investigations into these changes, which unless taken up now, can lead us to points of no return, the way our industrial development ambitions are ex-
panding.

There is also another statistical dimension to these figures quoted by our Ministers, which requires closer scrutiny. While Industries minister says 67% of
Mahanadi water (Is it total Mahanadi water?) flowing to sea unused, Agriculture Minister says 66% of Water from Jobra (others going to Taldanda and
Machhgaon) canal flows to the sea. These two statements are not same, as one tells about whole Mahanadi without reference to any points and another
point to allocations at Jobra. Civil society must also know the sources of these data and methodology followed to triangulate the figures.

There are many figures floating around concerning water allocation to industries. While they could be true as per the agreements signed with WRD,
exact amount taken is often difficult to know with allegations about higher withdrawal. This is due to the fact that most of the industries are drawing
water from reservoir or barrage directly in contrast to agriculture which is provided through canals (canal allocation can be easily verified from daily flow
in cusec/cumec from canal head). Therefore it is very important to have regulatory mechanism in place to monitor extraction by industry or simply put-
ting a ban on their extraction from reservoir/barrage and asking them to take through other sources. After all, no major reservoir and barrage was ever
constructed out of public money with an objective to allocating water to profit-making private concerns.

In the allocation debate, often a critical issue like ‘pollution’ of rivers by industry get lost. It must be kept in mind, Industry not only take good water in
bulk from best sources, but also put its worst water back into our lifelines. We must not forget that the first ever ‘environmental movement’ in Orissa
was fought around this very issue way back in 1950s by l ate Sradhakar Supker, who had filed a petition before court to save river IB and Mahanadi from
pollution caused by Orient Paper Mill of Brajaraj Nagar, even before Hirakud Dam was built.

Civil society must rise to engage itself more closely, critically and also strategically in this whole debate about water allocations and use – be it prioritiza-
tion through policy, execution through agreements or monitoring and regulation.
- Email by Pranab to different e-groups in response to the following news
News Links
Orissa defends water supplies to industries
Says 67 percent of Mahanadi water flows into the sea as there is no user
http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/orissa-defends-water-supplies-industries
Agriculture Minister bats for industries
http://expressbuzz.com/states/orissa/agriculture-minister-bats-for-industries/195367.html