Mahanadi River Basin Update - 12th April 2015

WIO’s Mahanadi River Basin Update – 12^th April 2015

Theme: Healthy Mahanadi, Happy Cities

Open Defecation too huge a pollution load for Mahanadi at Sonepur:

Open defecation ratio almost 1000 per kilometre of the river bank stretch in the city!

A jaundice epidemic may not be far from being reality!!

Dear Friends/Co-sailors,

As part of its ‘Mahanadi River Basin Initiative’, the WIO along with Mahanadi River Waterkeeper, RARE, Nature for All, Mahanadi Sahitya Sansad and The Ayauskam, organised a day long consultation with media and concerned citizens at Sonepur today. 

Speaking at the occasion Mahanadi River Waterkeeper Ranjan Panda said that the consultation was aimed at sharing findings of a citizen’s survey of Mahanadi pollution at Sonepur and seeking cooperation of the participants in furthering the state wide campaign “Healthy Mahanadi, Happy Cities” that aims at linking urban people to the river so that they can love, respect and protect the Mother River of Odisha.

 This voluntary state wide campaign was launched at Sambalpur on 29^th June 2013 and we are trying to cover all cities of the basin.

Sonepur is a very small city but is based at a very important position on the banks of the River Mahanadi.  Our citizen’s survey found out that at least 5000 people - that is near to 25 per cent of the entire city’s population - defecates on the banks of the river.  This makes the open defecation ratio almost 1000 people per kilometre in the bank of river here.  This is too huge considering the small size of the city. (Ranjan Panda)

The city generates at least 17, 50,000 litres of waste water on a daily basis.  This added with about 11.50 metric tonne of solid waste ultimately find their way to the river and pollute that heavily.  Sonepur still has the opportunity to correct these problems and create a good example in talking River Pollution. (Ranjan Panda)

Sonepur has about about 18 bathing ghats in which more than 5000 people bathe daily.  The drains discharge heavily polluted water into theghats exposing the people to severe health hazards.  The garbage and solid waste management of the city is also disastrous and besides polluting the ponds of the city, they are also polluting the river heavily. (Shyama Om Prasad Mishra, Nature for All)

Noted environmentalist Prof. Arttabandhu Mishra spoke about the dying fate of river Mahanadi as a whole and urged upon the Sonepur city dwellers to start a concerted drive without further delay to save it.  “Mahanadi’s capacity to dilute pollution has been chocked by Hirakud dam.  The basin needs efforts to rejuvenate the feeding nullahs and rivulets and all the surface water bodies.  The polluting industries need also be checked from discharging their pollutants into the River.” (Prof. Mishra)

Senior social worker of Sonepur Shri Hara Prasad Ratha presided over the consultation and asked all the journalists and other citizens of the city to join hands in this historic opportunity to save Mahanadi. 

Mr. Ambuj Bihari Satapathy of RARE welcomed the participants and Mr. Benudhar Pradhan of Mahanadi Sahitya Sansad gave away the vote of thanks.

The programme ended with a resolution to take a number of local actions to save Mahanadi from pollution at Sonepur.  A local coordination committee was formed which will work with the Mahanadi River Waterkeeper on these campaigns. 

For further information please contact:

Ranjan Panda

Convenor, Water Initiatives Odisha

Mahanadi River Waterkeeper (Member, Global Waterkeeper Alliance)

Mobile: +919437050103
Email: ranjanpanda@gmail.com, ranjanpanda@yahoo.com

Skype: ranjan.climatecrusader

Tweet @ranjanpanda

Tweet @MahanadiRiver

Blog: http://www.climatecrusaders.blogspot.com/

Please join with us in saving Mahanadi, India's 6th largest River...

=============

Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) is a state level coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia, media and other concerned, which has been working on water, environment and climate change issues in the state for more than two and half decades now.