KALIYADALWANA POKHARI-PITHAPUR IN CUTTACK. PICTURE BY BADRIKA NATH

Cuttack, Oct. 11: Orissa High Court today directed the state government to formulate a law to protect and conserve the fast-disappearing water bodies in Cuttack city.

The division bench of Justice B.P. Das and Justice M.M. Das issued the direction while disposing of a public interest litigation on depleting water bodies in the city.

The court asked the revenue divisional commissioner, central division, to constitute a committee to deal with illegal conversion of water bodies or jalasaya kisam land for purposes such as to build houses on.

The committee will have not more than seven members, including vice-chairman of the Cuttack Development Authority and commissioner of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

It will take steps for the development and conservation of water bodies in the city within two years according to the plan submitted by the government.

The state revenue department had drawn up a plan to develop and conserve 66 water bodies in the city.

The state housing and urban development department had sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the purpose. Petitioner Tapan Kumar Das had said the city, which once had more than 1,400 tanks and water bodies, had just 200 or so left now.

The court had also taken up another petition related to filling up of water bodies and conversion for homestead purposes. In 2005, the court had ordered status quo.

Amicus curiae Pravat Ranjan Dash had subsequently alleged that the status quo had been violated by builders to change the status of their properties in connivance with revenue officials.

The court entrusted the committee, which is to be headed by the revenue divisional commissioner, to examine all applications pending before the tehsildar for conversion and process them for approval following guidelines.

It declared invalid the applications for conversion of jalasaya kisam land approved by the tehsildar after the status quo order. The committee will henceforth be the final authority for approval of application for conversion, the order said.

The high court had ordered status quo as far as tanks that had been recorded as such in the record of rights were concerned. It had also directed revenue authorities to submit a report on the water bodies.