Kareena Eugene
For the State Government to reply to a PIL seeking intervention against construction of a wall along the beach at Chandrabhaga inside the protected area of Konark-Balukhand wildlife sanctuary, the deadline has been set to 30th April 2021, by the Orissa High Court.
The Court had set the deadline after the State Government failed to file a reply on 22nd April, 2021, Thursday.
On April 5th 2021, the High Court while responding to the PIL, had sought the reply by 19th April and fixed 22nd April as the date to hear the PIL.
However, when the petition had come up on Thursday, the State Counsel stated that the affidavit will positively be filed on or before 27th April. Chief Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice B.P. Routray posted the matter to 30th April 2021, while allowing time for the same.
Konark based Odisha Biodiversity Conservation Foundation (OBCF) had filed a petition expressing apprehension that construction of the wall will block the course of natural water and storm water drainage from the town in Konark.
The petition mentioned that, ‘the Roads division of the Works department had started the process for construction of over one-km-long wall along the beach to check deposition of sand on the Puri-Konark Marine Drive road’.
OBCF’s trustee, Binayak Swain, said that the project covers a large area through which the rain water of the entire town in Konark is drained to the Sea.
The petitioner also said that, ‘Construction of the retaining wall may result in flooding of the town and the sanctuary during the rainy season’.
