Bhubaneswar, July 16: Encroachment of drainage channel No. 4 by a landowner near the gate of Ekamrakanan, the garden of the Regional Plant Resource Centre (RPRC) at Nayapalli here, has raised the fear of a man-made flood that might block the road to the park affecting the movement of morning walkers and visitors.
On November 6, a joint team of enforcement officials of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the drainage division had carried out an eviction drive near the spot, which is adjacent to the boundary wall of the RPRC.
The eviction was necessitated as water logging became a frequent problem near the gate of the Ekamrakanan after the landowner constructed a boundary wall over the drainage channel.
According to provisions of the Odisha Development Authority Act, 1982, and the Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003, no one can obstruct flow of water in a natural drainage channel.
“We are apprehending a situation similar to that of the last year after one or two heavy showers. Last year, we incurred a loss of about Rs 8,000 a day as no visitor could enter the park. Morning walkers were also deprived of our facility,’’ said Shashi Paul, chief executive of the RPRC.
Paul also said that the encroacher had taken advantage of a mistake done by the BDA in its revised comprehensive development plan (CDP) which was notified in 2010.
“In the old CDP, the drainage channel was there in the BDA map, but about 200 metre from the same stretch vanished from the Ekamrakanan wall in 2010. Taking advantage of the lacunae, the encroacher illegally constructed the wall over the channel bed,’’ he said.
Principal scientist of the RPRC P.C. Panda added that water logging also affected research activities inside the park last year as many research stations of the centre are on the premises of the Ekamrakanan. The rose garden, the green house for cactus and many other important facilities are on the premises of the garden. Morning walkers use the path, the lawn and a road leading towards the boundary wall of the RPRC bordering Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary as their favourite tracks.
Subhranshu Jena, a resident of Nayapalli, said: “The civic and development authorities should act immediately and remove encroachment over the drainage channel. Otherwise, many areas in the city will face situation similar to that of Acharya Vihar where water logging causes serious flooding after every heavy shower.’’
Planning section officials in the BDA, however, said that the mistake in the CDP of 2010 had been corrected in the micro-level planning of the CDP, which is called the zonal development plan (ZDP).
“Once the ZDP is notified, no building permission will be given on that stretch. So, no one will be permitted to carry out any construction there,’’ said an official of the BDA’s planning section.
Drainage channel No. 4, which originates from a stream near the wall of Ekamrakanan, passes through places such as Jayadev Vihar, Acharya Vihar, Bhouma Nagar, Unit-IX, Utkal University, VSS Nagar, Mancheswar and Chakeisiani before meeting the Gangua nullah. It is the longest channel in the city, which travels nearly 9.8km before reaching Gangua.
BDA enforcement officer Debaprasad Dash said: “Obstruction of a natural drainage channel is a serious offence. On earlier occasions, the high court had also given us directives to treat encroachment on channels, roads and government land on priority and remove the illegal structures.’’
Dash said: “Last year, we had also requested the drainage division to lay the renovated drainage with concrete sidewalls immediately after the eviction in November, but they did not accept our proposal.’’
