The halt on the boating facility on the reconstructed British-era Taladanda Canal at Jobra, months after it was opened, has come under the attention of the Orissa High Court, which has demanded clarification from the Odisha government on this matter.
The facility with environmentally friendly boats was based on battery power instead of fossil fuels like gasoline and offered a much-needed recreational place for the locals of the city and tourists.
The division bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice V Narsingh, which dealt with civic and development issues in Cuttack City, has decided July 25 for further consideration of the issue.
According to the sources, the tourism department has paused the boating facility since November last year, the bench ordered the state counsel to seek orders on why it was stopped and what the strategies are for its reopening.
As per the media reports, the tourism department launched an eco-friendly boat ride on the Taladanda Canal to attract more visitors to Cuttack. A huge investment has been made for this purpose. Such reports further indicate that the Taladanda Boating Complex and Food Court were inaugurated on September 16, 2023, but boating services have been stopped since November 10, 2023.
The bench directed, “Let the counsel for the state obtain instruction as to why the citizens have been deprived of such a facility and whether there is any proposal to resume it, and if so, when it would be restored.”
The bench also raised concern over the destruction of the protective fence on both sides of the canal for safety as well as preventing the dumping of waste into the water channel.
“It is stated that wire mesh fencing was put up on both sides of the Taladanda Canal so that no one could throw garbage into it. Now, the wire mesh fencing has been damaged to a great extent. There was also a footpath on both sides adjacent to the wire mesh fencing, and it has been damaged and its beauty has been lost. Immediate steps shall be taken for the repair of the same and its renovation,” the bench directed.
Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik opened the Taladanda Boating Complex and Food Court on September 16, 2023. But the boating facilities were stopped even before completing the second month of their opening because of a lack of water in the canal. The service is still to be continued. The 82-km-long canal begins at Jobra and connects the Mahanadi River with the Bay of Bengal in Paradip.
