Jagatsinghpur: Rejuvenation of Alaka River in this district at a plan outlay of Rs 17 crore has gone haywire with the water body losing its existence. Whatever is left of the river now acts only as a grim reminder of its glorious past. Alaka is a distributary of Biluakhai River flowing in Birabarapatana area under Biridi block in Jagatsinghpur district. The river used to sustain thousands of villages under Biridi, Jagatsinghpur, Balikuda, and Erasama blocks. However, with the water flow getting restricted due to the invasion of weeds and siltation, it soon ran out of its purpose.
At present, while the Dead River runs for 52 km, the portion that is still active runs for 22 km. The river was once so deep that even ships used to transport various goods in the river. This helped the British to establish a commercial centre at erstwhile Haripur, now known as Jagtsinghpur. However, the river has almost lost its existence with time. Realising the same, the state government launched plans to rejuvenate the river at an outlay of `17 crore. Rejuvenation of the river stretch of around 52.39 km from Asilo near Borikina to Birabarpatna was to be done in three phases. The state government floated the tender after the plan received approval of the technical advisory committee and administrative clearance. This spread cheers among the residents as successful renovation of the river would help in the drainage of storm and rainwater.
Locals also hoped that the move would also give way to greater infrastructure for fish farming which will indirectly benefit them. They, however, alleged that the river rejuvenation plan has gone haywire. According to the residents, dredging of the river, yet to be completed till date, is being done only for the namesake. The land measurement at many places has not been done properly while officials have allegedly changed the course of the river and tried to reduce it by size at stretches where there are lands of influential people. Moreover, when the state government prepared a plan for Alaka rejuvenation, it completely overlooked the construction and strengthening of the embankment. The consultancy agency while dredging the river dumped the excavated soil and sand on both sides of the embankment. Dumping of soil and sand has only weakened the embankment at many places instead of strengthening it. It is apprehended that this may lead to a breach on the embankment like last year and further weaken it.
Locals also fear that during rain, soil, and sand dumped on both sides of the embankment will flow back into the river and bury it. Residents Nilu Mitra, Saroj Nayak, and Antaryami Biswal alleged that this has led to misutilisation of funds benefitting only the contractor and engineers. It has also been alleged that encroachment by land sharks has also affected the river. Many persons with help of some unscrupulous revenue officials have grabbed large patches of river lands. The sorry state of the river concerned the state government in 2016. The state government decided to dredge the river for proper drainage of flood water as well as to start fish farming in the river. The state Fisheries department prepared a detailed project report in this regard the same year.
Later, a team from Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) in Assam toured the district for four days and approved fish farming after reviewing the situation. The team members then surveyed the river stretch at Biridi, Jagatsinghpur, and Naugaon blocks. The team opined that the plan when implemented would lead to fish farming on 150 hectare of riverbeds and result in the harvesting of 600 tonnes of fish per annum. This would bring revenue to the tune of Rs 7 crore per annum and lead to the employment of hundreds of youths. The scheme would also benefit the women’s self-help groups and the local entrepreneurs. However, the plan has failed to make any headway with the river dying a slow death.