Bhubaneswar, Sep 25 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Thursday, ordered a status-quo on the construction of a proposed bus stand by the Odisha Transport Department, which involves diverting an old water body at Padampur in Bargarh district.

The tribunal issued the order on a plea challenging the diversion of a water body for the construction of a block level bus stand at Padampur.

While the actual construction work has not yet begun, the transport department has already started filling the pond for the purpose of building the proposed bus stand.

“The plea alleges that the authorities proceeded without considering the availability of alternative land, the adverse impact of filling the water body on the environment and local residents, and the risk of future inundation of the locality as storm water would no longer have a natural outlet,” said applicants’ advocate Sankar Prasad Pani.

The petitioners, in his application, also alleged that the pond has long served as a natural catchment for rainwater and a vital recharge point for the groundwater table, benefiting not only the residents of the locality but also the surrounding wells and farmlands.

The applicants told the tribunal that in a region like Padampur that frequently faces water scarcity, the disappearance of such natural water bodies is irreplaceable.

Such natural resources’ disappearance will not only disrupt the local water cycle but will also undermine the availability of water for future generations.

They also complained that the removal of the pond in the absence of a proper drainage system, will increase the risk of severe waterlogging in adjoining low-lying areas.

The petitioners also said that their homes, which became vulnerable due to the newly elevated land created by the fill-up, are now at a higher risk of backflow and flooding in the absence of the natural water body.

During the hearing of the plea, the tribunal said, “In view of the averments made in the original application, attaining facts and circumstances of the case and precautionary principle embodied in Section 20 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, the respondents are directed to maintain status-quo as prevailing today with respect to the nature and further construction over the above-mentioned land claimed to be water body/pond.”

–IANS

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