A dying Alaka river in Jagatsinghpur. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Nov. 30: Thanks to massive human interference, the swirling Alaka River in Jagatsinghpur district wears a poor shadow of its glorious past.

People’s movement to revive the dying river has picked up tempo in riverside areas even as encroachments along its banks continue to remain a major cause of concern.

The river is a lifeline for large number of thickly populated villages at Biridi, Jagatsinghour, Naugaon, Balikuda and Erasama blocks. It originates as a tributary of the Kathajodi river fromBirabarpatna at Biridi block and is squeezed to a truncated canal as it meanders thorugh Balikuda block. The government agencies are to be squarely blamed for it, said Ratnakar Nayak, secretary of the Save Alaka Campaign, an outfit espousing the cause of the Alaka’s revival.

“Unlawful structures along the river banks flourish, impeding the unhindered flow of the river. Constructions of check dams, arrest of sewer lines and clearing of encroachments would have a gone a long way in protecting the river. But the water resources department has closed its eyes to it,” said president of the organisation Susanta Mohapatra.

The river, which used to be wider earlier, now looks more like a drain. It has got bifurcated near Nailo village at Balikuda block. Besides, the Cuttack-Machagaon irrigation canal has been a stumbling block for the downstream flow of the river.

Historically, the river was the primary medium through which maritime trade used to be conducted. It dates back to British era.

“Such illegal structures have clogged 40-km stretch of the river in such a way that its breadth has been reduced to less than 15 feet in areas where it traverses. During the 1960s, its width was around 100 feet. It’s a classic case of what human interference could do to nature,” said Mohapatra.

Spurt in construction of river bridges, unabated sand quarrying and mushrooming of brick kilns along the banks have all contributed to the river’s topographical change.