REQUIEM FOR THE GOLDEN RIVER

                        The other day I saw a glimpse of the Mahanadi river in Cuttack as my family and I travelled along the Ring Road and was grief-struck observing  the pitiable  condition of the golden river that was once the life line of ancient Kalinga. The Mahanadi, I was convinced, is dying a slow and painful death. It reminded me of the story" The King of the Golden River" of the British writer John Ruskin. In Ruskin's novel, the river that flowed through the Treasure Valley of Austria and had made the valley fertile and was popular as the golden river ultimately dried up because of the sin of the Black Brothers and their mistreatment of natural elements. Similarly, the golden river of Odisha is now choking itself to death and the reason being the callous attitude of the Cuttack-dwellers.

                        During my student days in Cuttack, I used to take a stroll along the Jobra Anicut  often to feel the caressing of the cool Mahanadi breeze in the evening. The river terrorised everyone with its ferocity when in spate during the monsoon. Now, most of the river bed has been usurped by the encroachers. Their shanties and make-shift huts have made the hapless river look ugly and drab now. The vast sand bed is under the mercy of the sand-mafias who are stealing sand in tractors and trucks and exploiting the river in their rapacity. Hotels along the river hardly hesitate to let the sewer water discharge in to its body. Now, the big question mark that looms large is who will revive this beautiful river ever. its glorious heritage and its original self. Let the people wake up from their slumber.

( Writer - Dr. Pradeep Kumar Nayak )