A small river that stopped flowing 70 years ago in Odisha’s Cuttack district is set to be rejuvenated. The State government has started working on its revival plan following a recent direction from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). This is probably the first serious attempt being made to restore a river to its original shape in Odisha.

The Sukapaika river originated from another river, the Mahanadi, near Ayatpur village. It flowed 27.5 km before meeting the Mahanadi again at Bankala.

In the 1950s, the State’s water resource engineers had in their wisdom closed the Sukapaika river mouth enabling development of the Taladanda Canal System, a major canal of the State. This led to the river mostly drying up. The process was aggravated by agricultural encroachments that had sprung up on the riverbanks.

“Villagers realised the importance of the river when they faced a groundwater crisis a few years ago. The water table wasn’t getting recharged by the Sukapaika river anymore. Agriculture was hit and the river channel turned into a garbage ground,” said Swarup Rath, the main petitioner who moved the NGT in 2021 demanding rejuvenation of the river.

On September 28, the NGT’s Eastern Bench directed the State government to make budgetary provision for the river’s complete rejuvenation by March 2023.