Cuttack, Feb. 21: Social activists under the banner of Mahanagar Nagarika Mancha have sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention against unchecked discharge of untreated sewage from the city into the Kathajodi river.

"Discharge of sewage into the river through the storm water drain at Khannagar makes a mockery of your dream and desire for Swachha Bharat," the mancha has alleged in a memorandum to the Prime Minister.

There is a sewage treatment plant at Matagajpur at the tail end of the open drain (main storm water channel) that originates from Tulasipur to treat sewage before discharging it into the river.

"But the channel remains defunct from Matrubhawan to Matagajpur, and the sewage from Tulasipur is diverted at Matru Bhavan and discharged into the river at Khannagar through a branch storm water channel, which was constructed for release of rainwater during monsoons," the mancha said in its memorandum.

Mancha adviser Rajendra Prasad Singh said: "The memorandum to Modiji was sent on February 11 after several representations to local authorities had yielded no result. We expect the PMO to send a team of experts to assess the situation to make the river pollution free."

President of the Khannagar-Khapuria Industrial Area Puja Committee Subash Behera said: "As sewage is pushed into the river, highly-polluted stinking waste water, which also carries solid waste, engulfs our area."

"There has been no let up in the release of waste water despite repeated orders of the Orissa High Court for over two years," said mancha convener Chittaranjan Mohanty.

Officials of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation conceded that the sewage treatment plant at Matagajpur, which is supposed to treat domestic wastewater from the city before discharge to Kathajodi, is almost not functioning. This is because sewage in the main storm water channel has not been reaching its tail end.

"The stretch of main storm water channel from Matru Bhavan to Matagajpur does not have the required gradient for free flow of waste water to the tail end.

The situation can only change after completion of the ongoing renovation of the main storm water channel under the Japan International Co-Operation Agency-assisted sewerage and drainage project," municipal commissioner Gyana Das told The Telegraph.

"Till the completion of the renovation on the main storm water channel, which is expected to be over by 2017, very little can be done to stop discharge of waste water into the Kathajodi. We have already explained our predicament before the high court," Das said.

In November 2013, the high court had issued orders for a halt to discharge of untreated sewage to the Kathajodi river while adjudicating PILs on civic problems.

The court issued the order after the Odisha State Pollution Control Board, in pursuance of its direction, conducted a field study and recommended to stop discharge of untreated sewage to prevent further contamination of the river.