Patna: A decade-old plan of renovating and beautifying Motijheel in Motihari town will soon come true.

The Centre has sought a reply from the state regarding work done for the lake in the past years by different departments following which it would release funds for the lake.

Spread across 400 acres, Motijheel is located in the heart of Motihari town, the district headquarters of East Champaran district. It divides the town, located 160km northwest of Patna, into two parts.

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, who represents East Champaran in the Lok Sabha, had interacted with officials of the urban development and tourism departments and also those from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research here on Monday in which it was decided that a detailed reply would be sent to the Centre within a week.

"The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has approved a project worth Rs 24.9 crore but before releasing the funds, it wants to know what work other departments had done in the past to development of the lake. Today, I asked officials of the state government and of ICAR to provide details after which the Centre would release the funds," Singh told The Telegraph at the state guesthouse.

The Union minister said a sewerage treatment plant to prevent the practice of release of drainage and sewerage water directly into the lake would be undertaken after release of the central funds.

He added that the renovation will involve de-weeding and de-silting the lake, laying pathways along both banks, proper lighting on the banks and setting up floating fountains in the lake.

A source revealed that efforts were on to procure central assistance for the lake for the past decade but nothing had materialised.

"In Monday's meeting, the Union minister directed us to give the required details to the Centre to get the funds released at the earliest," said the source. He added that the compliance of the minister's directive would be ensured within a week.