The IOCL construction site at Mahanadi riverbed in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Sept. 18: The controversy over construction undertaken by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) in a land mass inside the Mahanadi river has intensified here in Cuttack. Orissa High Court has initiated contempt proceedings against the secretary of housing and urban development department for non-compliance of order to file an affidavit explaining how a portion of the land mass in Mahanadi earmarked for a plantation project underwent conversion into anabadi land and leased out for other purposes.

The IOCL had undertaken construction of an intake structure to create a facility for water supply from Mahanadi to its crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Paradip. Lanco Infratech Limited was carrying out the construction.

The direction was issued on a PIL after Cuttack collector Girish S.N., in pursuance of an order, filed an affidavit stating that seven acres of anabadi land had been leased out to the IOCL through the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa on December 12, 2009, for the construction of intake well.

The decision to allot the anabadi land to IOCL was taken at a high-level meeting presided by chief secretary on August 4, 2009, the affidavit said on August 29.

The court also expected the state housing and urban development department to file an affidavit giving details on the funds allocated for the plantation project, number of trees planted and amount spent towards executing the project.

But when the case came up for hearing on Tuesday, no affidavit had been filed. “Taking note of it, the two-judge bench of Justice B.P. Das and Justice M.M. Das has suo motu initiated contempt proceedings against the state urban and housing development secretary and issued contempt notices,” Nationalist Lawyers’ Forum (NLF) counsel Ghasiram Verma told The Telegraph today. “The court has fixed September 22 for next hearing on the case,” said Verma.

The controversy had sparked of with the NLF filing the PIL seeking judicial intervention against construction work undertaken at the land mass expressing apprehension that it would pose threat to the city when the river is in flood. Restrictions were imposed on the work in an interim order on July 29.