129 companies owe Odisha govt water tax worth Rs 6170 crore!

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 1:

In Odisha as many as 129 companies, including government-run corporations, owe a whopping Rs 6169.732 crore towards Water Tax for the period between 2000 and 2014.

This was revealed through the reply by the PIO of the office of Engineering-in-Chief, Water Resources in reponse to an RTI query by leading RTI activist Pradip Pradhan on June 27, 2014.

While the highest defaulter among  the government agencies is Burla Power House with Rs 4719. 83 crore pending against it, Sewa Paper Mill, Jeypore comes second with Rs 172.18 crore of unpaid water tax.

The PIO’s  reply has listed 23 companies from who owe the government Rs 10 crore  or more towards water  tax.

Among them are Burla Power House; Sewa Paper Mill, Jeypore; NALCO, Angul;  OHPC Ltd, UKHEP, Bariniput; TTPS (NTPC) Chainpal; Bhusan Limited and Reliance Industries, Dhenkanal.

Here is a list of the  major companies  against whom  the water tax  worth Rs. 10 crores  or more is pending:

 

Sl.No	Name of Company/ Factories/ Institutions	Arrear up to 31.3.14  (Rs. In Lakhs)
Jarka Irrigation Division
1	Nilachal Ispat Nigam Limited	1626.87
2	IDCO, Kalinga Nagar	3403. 29
Mahanadi North Division , Jagatpur, Cuttack
3	Arati Steel	1321.31
Main Dam Division, Burla, Jharsuguda
4	Orient Paper Mills, Brajaraja Nagar	5292.080
5	M.C.L., Brajaraj Nagar	5022.766
6	B.I.T.S., Bandhabahal	1607.72
7	Tata Refectories Limited, Belpahad	1603.084
8	Burla Power House	471983.95
9	M/s Bhusan Limited	1545.435
10	Viraj Steel and Energy	704.078
11	M/s Shyam DRI Pvt. Ltd	2585.35
Head Works Division, Samal, Dist-Angul
	M/s Odisha Power Consortium Ltd.	3580.34
13	OHPC Rengali Hydro Electric Project	4276.00
Angul Irrigation Division
14	NALCO, Angul	28304.845
15	TTPS (NTPC) Chainpal	18574.958
16	Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.	1398.041
17	Reliance Industries, Dhenkanal	1088.023
18	Shakti Sugar, Dhenkanal	753.649
Berhampur Irrigation Division
19	Indian Rare Earth Ltd.	1375.816
Upper Kolab Head Works Divsion, Kolabnagar, Koraput
20	NALCO ( M&R), Damanjodi	4869.441
21	Sewa paper Mill, Jeypore	17218.835
22	P.H.Division, Koraput	1048.458
23	OHPC, Ltd. UKHEP, Bariniput	22121.95

 

The reply by the Water Resources department further reveals that only 13 out of 129 companies have brought stay order from Odisha High Court challenging water tax imposed by the state government.

They are :

Sl.No	Name of Company	Year of Stay	Details of action taken to vacate the stay
1	Sakti Sugars Ltd., Dhenkanal	2006	1.Counter affidavit  and Misc. Cases  filed by State Govt. on 13.4.07 and 5.2.20092. Additional affidavit filed by CE, Water Resources on 19.6.13
2	Jayshree Chemicals, Berhampur Irrigation Division	2000	EE, Berhampur Irrigation Division filed last affidavit on 10.2.09
3	Canon Drunkerly and Co., Rayagada, Harabhanga Irrigation Division, Adava	2004	Last Counter affidavit filed the state Govt. on 4.5.2009
4	SE Railyways, Jharsuguda	2005	Counter Affidavit filed by EE, Main Dam Division, Burla on 3.2.2009
5	Tata Steels, Joda	2006	Counter affidavit filed on 2006 and 2009Addl. Affidavit filed by CE, OWPO on 12.12.2011
6	Aska Cooperative Sugar Industries Ltd. Bhanjanagar	2005	EE., Bhanjanagar Irr. Division  filed Misc. Case in 2009.
7	Ballarpur Industry (SEWA) Jeypore	2000	Last Affidavit filed  CE, Water Resources in 2002Misc. Case filed by EE, UK Head Works Division in 2009
8	Ballarpur Industries, Choudwar	2000	Last Counter affidavit filed by EE, Mhanadi North Division in 2000
9	Paradeep Phosphates Limited		Counter affidavit filed  in WP(C)  19097/2011
10	Arati Steels Ltd. Cuttack	2000	No  counter affidavit filed  in WP (C) No. 18501/2013
11	Jindal steels aand Power Lid.	not given	EE, Angul Irrigation Division  has been directed to file counter affidavit  in WP (C) No. 18635/13
12	Emami Paper Mills Ltd., Balasore	not given	EE, Balasore has filed counter affidavit  in WP (C) No. 6047/12
13	Mahaveer Ferro Alloys Ltd.Sundargarh Irrigation Division	not given	Counter affidavit filed on 11.11.13 in WP (C) No. 10147/13
Besides, Secretary and Addl. secretary, Water Resources  have filed further affidavits for full bench  hearing  of the cases  of the industries from Serial No. 1 to 8  of the list on 26.2.09 and 25.2.09 respectively  as per direction of Odisha High Court.

While the PIO’s  reply states that the state government has engaged two advocates to fight the cases in the High Court, it has not provided any information on the money paid as professional fee to them.

The fact remains that while only 13 companies have challenged the quantum of water tax levied by the Odisha government one fails to understand why the government has not made any move to collect its dues from other companies.

What is evident from the reply is that in most of the cases, where companies have challenged their water tax bills, the state government has sat pretty after filing counter affidavits ( the last one was in 2009). Since then the cases have neither been heard nor has the government taken any steps for their quick disposal.

According to Pradhan, the lingering of the cases  in the High Court  has  affected  the  financial interests of the  state  and entailed a huge burden on the state  exchequer.

“But what is more important is that the whole game smells of an unholy nexus between the companies and the bureaucracy.What else explains the fact that defaulting companies continue to draw water without depositing a single paisa ?”, Pradip Pradhan asked.