NGT asks Odisha to protect groundwater recharge zones

In a rare geographical phenomenon, sweet water aquifers have coexisted alongside the rumbling salt waters of Bay of Bengal in Puri, a popular beachside tourist destination in Odisha.

But, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) feels that unregulated extraction is now threatening the aquifers.

The Eastern Zone bench of the NGT in Kolkata, in an order, asked the Odisha government “to protect the natural groundwater recharge zones of Chakratirtha and Balipanda in the town of Puri”.

The order came after environmentalist Subhash Datta filed a petition before the NGT seeking immediate intervention and stoppage on the loot of sweet water along the Puri sea beach.

“Sweet water is found barely within 50 feet of the Bay of Bengal in Puri. In 1931, the Britishers had declared Chakratirtha and Balipanda zones as protected areas. In 2000, the Odisha government declared the two zones as protected. In June 2016, the Central Ground Water Board had declared the areas as protected and some prohibitions had been imposed.Datta told DH.

The tribunal, in its order, said, “Protection of the sweet water zones…is of grave relevance, which calls for the state government and municipality as well as the Central Ground Water Board to give special attention in view of constant threat of encroachment of the area in the sea beach.”