India, Dec. 4 -- How embankments have killed Odisha's Sukapaika river that was the lifeline of over 0.5 million people

Sukapaika is one of the several distributaries of the mighty Mahanadi river in Odisha. It branches away from the Mahanadi at Ayatpur village in Cuttack district and flows for about 40 kilometres (km) before rejoining its parent river at Tarapur in the same district. In the process, it drains a large landmass comprising over 425 villages under 26 gram panchayats in three blocks - Cuttack Sadar, Nischintakoili and Raghunathpur.

Not long back, people of these villages completely depended on the river for their drinking water, bathing, irrigation, fishing and other livelihood options, but not anymore. The reason: Sukapaika ...