Breathing life into a dead river

Breathing life into a dead river

Subject :Geography

Context-

• A small river that stopped flowing 70 years ago in Odisha’s Cuttack district is set to be rejuvenated.
• This is the first serious attempt to restore a river to its original shape in Odisha by the state government following the direction National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Sukapaika river-

• The Sukapaika river originated from another river, the Mahanadi, near Ayatpur village.
• It flowed 27.5 km before meeting the Mahanadi again at Bankala.
• In the process, it drains a large landmass comprising over 425 villages.
• However, the river is undergoing sudden barrenness.

Why it dried up?

• In the 1950s, the State’s water resource engineers had closed the Sukapaika river mouth enabling the development of the Taladanda Canal System of the State.
• This led to the river mostly drying up.
• Subsequently, in 1957, two major projects — Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur district and Naraj barrage at Cuttack — were built upstream on the Mahanadi, ostensibly to control floods in it.
• However, the embankment on the Sukapiaka was not removed.
• This left the distributary totally dependent on rainwater. The neglect has hit the 0.5 million people residing in the villages over the next half a century.
• The riverbed has suffered erosion and it is full of hyacinth.

Consequences-

• Agricultural encroachments sprung up on the riverbanks.
• The water table isn’t getting recharged by the Sukapaika river.
• Agriculture was hit and the river channel turned into garbage ground.

Rejuvenation plan-

• NGT’s Eastern Bench directed the State government to make budgetary provisions for the river’s complete rejuvenation by March 2023.
• The government has set a target to complete the renovation within 18 months with a fund allocation of ₹49.67 crores.