Hirakud water panel:PIL

A PIL filed in Orissa High Court has sought direction to the state government to constitute an expert committee to monitor maintenance of water level in Hirakud reservoir during the rainy season.

Suryanarayan Biswal and two others have alleged in the PIL that the recent floods in Orissa cannot be attributed only to "nature's fury".
It was also caused "either because of short-sightedness or arbitrary action and inaction" of the Hirakud dam authorities and water resources department. The petitioners ' all members of Orissa High Court bar ' expect the court to "regulate and supervise" release of floodwater from the Hirakud dam during rainy season through an expert committee consisting of chief engineer (Hirakud dam), chief engineer (irrigation department), water resources secretary, energy secretary and two eminent social activists.
The petitioners have also sought direction to the state government "to compensate the flood victims", as it was a "man-made flood".
The bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra is expected to take up the PIL for hearing on submission of a reply by the state government when the court reopens after the Puja vacation on October 17.
According to the petition, around 30 lakh people were adversely affected by the flood in Orissa during the first half of September.
As early as five days before September 9, there was weather forecast about heavy rainfall in Chhattisgarh, western and interior parts of Orissa consisting of Balangir, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Deogarh and Boudh districts.
But between September 4 and 7, only 10 to 15 sluice gates of the reservoir were opened. During these days, water had been flowing at Hirakud reservoir at above 620ft.
"Had water from the reservoir been cleared between September 3 and 7 maintaining only the water level required for power generation, floodwater of Mahanadi following heavy rain in Chhattisgarh could have been controlled at Hirakud dam," the petition contends.
Instead of opening 30 to 35 sluice gates between September 3 and 7, the dam authorities opened only 10 to 15 sluice gates.
Subsequently, more than 60 gates were opened at a time on September 8 "resulting in the high flood in Mahanadi and causing heavy loss to life and property".
"Unfortunately, lack of proper coordination between Orissa and Chhattisgarh governments over rainfall in Chhattisgarh precipitated the situation," the petition further contends. The PIL has sought judicial scrutiny of the water level maintained in Hirakud reservoir between June and October and weather forecast reports from both Chhattisgarh and western Orissa vis-�-vis actual rainfall.

Progress plans go slow

The Orissa government is apparently making tardy progress in filling up posts of assistant professors created "for expansion and strengthening of medical education and patient care" at SCB Medical College here.

The government had created 26 posts of assistant professors in different departments of the premier medical institution last year. But the recruitment process has not started till date.
Official records indicate that the creation of these 26 posts had received concurrence of the finance department more than five months ago. The creation of these posts of Orissa Medical Education Service Cadre had also received the governor's sanction.
The delay came to fore during adjudication of a PIL on insufficient patient care service in several departments of the medical college and hospital. The PIL sought judicial intervention against alleged lack of doctors at the hospital. The secretary of the health and family welfare department and director of the medical education and training had also made personal appearances before the court in connection with it on September 26.
High court-appointed amicus curiae Pravat Ranjan Das said: "The two-judge bench of Justice B.P. Das and Justice I. Mohanty had since directed the state government to send a proposal to the Orissa Public Service Commission for starting recruitment process for the posts of assistant professors created for different departments in SCB Medical College. The court expected compliance of the order within one week."
Official records indicated that five posts had been created for general medicine department, three each for paediatric and gynaecology departments, two each for orthopaedic (casualty), surgery (casualty), medicine (casualty) and biochemistry departments and one each for transfusion medicine, psychiatry, orthopaedic, emergency medicine, rheumatology, haematology and hepatology departments.
Creation of 34 posts of senior resident doctors at SCB Medical College had also received concurrence of the finance department and sanction of the governor. The state government planned to create 18 of them "by way of re-designation / reallocation of equal numbers from the existing posts of tutors" in the anatomy, physiology, forensic and toxicology, pathology, pharmacology and social prevention medicine departments. The other 16 posts had been sanctioned for medicine, paediatrics, tuberculosis and chest, skin, psychiatry, surgery and orthopaedics and ENT departments, the records further indicated.
The government had also sanctioned 478 additional beds for SCB, which, at present, has a bed capacity of around 1,200. Of these, while 252, 100 and 57 beds were for medicine, orthopaedic and surgery departments respectively. The rest were sanctioned for gynaecology, skin, nephrology, hepatology and endocrinology.