Bhubaneswar, June 23: Water of the Kuakhai and Daya, two major rivers flowing close to the city, is unfit for bathing.

This was disclosed in a report submitted by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board to the Odisha Human Rights Commission last week after Orissa High Court advocate Nishikant Mishra had raised the issue of pollution in these rivers through a public interest litigation.

The board report highlights acute deterioration in the water quality of the two rivers. The Kuakhai, a distributary of the Kathajodi river, originates near Mundamuhan village and flows along Bhubaneswar. It branches off into the Daya and Kushabhadra rivers near Balianta village.

The board regularly monitors the water quality of the Kuakhai river at two stations - Mancheswar and Hansapal. Similarly, the water quality of the Daya river is being monitored at Kanti and Manitri after the water of several nullahs, including the Gangua, meets the river.

The water quality of the rivers is assessed with respect to 36 different types of physio-chemical and biological parameters. The 2015 data on the quality of water of the Kuakhai and Daya rivers with respect to the parameters such as dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand and total coliform gives dismal picture of the water bodies.

As revealed by the data, total coliform remains in waters of the Kuakhai and Daya are above the tolerance limits at all the monitoring stations. Significant deviation from the tolerance limit is also noticed in the deposits of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen in the water. The deviation has been observed at the monitoring stations in the downstream of the two rivers. The river water is not fit for drinking purposes without conventional treatment and disinfection, says the report.

"This (pollution of water) may be attributed to the discharge of untreated domestic water of Bhubaneswar into Gangua nullah," the report said.

Gangua is the largest drainage channel of Bhubaneswar that empties into the Daya river. The pollution control board has also brought it to the notice of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.

Advocate Mishra said that because of the water's high pollution level, various types of skin diseases are affecting people living at villages along the rivers.

A housing and urban development official said the Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board had taken up a project called the Integrated Sewerage System for Bhubaneswar with assistance from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission to address the pollution issue in the Kuakhai and Daya rivers.