Cuttack, Aug. 29: Orissa High Court today directed the state government to submit a status report on the plantation project which was undertaken a decade ago at the landmass inside the Mahanadi river.

At present, construction work is on here for water supply to Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Paradip.

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

The two-judge bench of Justice B.P. Das and Justice M.M. Das issued the order after it had been pointed out that around 30 acres of land mass inside the Mahanadi river along its bank on the northern side of Cuttack city was earmarked for plantation to create a green belt in 2001 by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation. The court was hearing a PIL seeking intervention against the construction undertaken at the land mass expressing apprehension that it would pose threat to the city when the Mahanadi river is in flood. The court imposed restrictions on the construction on July 29.

In pursuance of the court order, Praveen Kumar, deputy superintendent of police, Cuttack, filed an affidavit stating that construction of an intake well under the oil company’s project had been undertaken at the land mass inside the Mahanadi river.

The intake structure was being constructed to create a facility for water supply from the Mahanadi to the oil company’s crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Paradip. One Lanco Infratech Limited was carrying out the construction.

Cuttack collector Girish Kumar also filed an affidavit stating that seven acres of “anabadi land” had been leased out to the oil company through the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa on December 12, 2009 for construction of the intake well.