CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday concluded hearing on the dispute over the construction of the water intake facility on the Mahanadi River by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for its Paradip oil refinery project. The division bench of Justices BP Das and MM Das has reserved its judgment, which is expected to be delivered on February 27.Acting on the directions of the bench on February 13, State Water Resources Secretary SC Mohapatra and Engineer-in-Chief H Behera were present in the court to assist it on finding solution for the contentious issues pertaining to the construction of the intake well on the river in close vicinity to the Jobra Barrage. The Government submitted that there will be no supply of water from the Jobra Barrage reservoir to the refinery at Paradip during the lean period of three summer months. The IOCL would have to construct its own reservoir for meeting its requirements during the period. The officials also emphasised on regular maintenance and dredging of the reservoir area to be undertaken by the IOCL as it would draw huge volume of water from it. The IOCL would be drawing 40 million gallons of water per day which would be supplied to the refinery at Paradip through a pipeline running along the river embankment past Cuttack.The court had in July last year issued a stay on the construction following an PIL filed by the Nationalist Lawyers Forum alleging that it would threaten drinking water and irrigation supply and also the embankments along Cuttack city. Even as the IOCL subsequently filed a petition for revoking the stay order, the Court had constituted a five-member experts committee headed by retired chief engineer SM Patnaik to assess the impact of such construction on the City and the people. The technical committee had already submitted its report, wherein it has ruled out any danger to the embankments or impact on drinking water and irrigation in several districts following the construction as well as withdrawal of water.The construction of the intake well will not affect the embankments on any side nor will it have any impact on the course of the river. It will not affect irrigation supply in the Mahanadi delta. Drinking water supply will also remain unaffected and there would be no danger of depletion of groundwater level as the pond level and area remain unaltered, the committee had put forth.
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