Jamshedpur: Alarm bells are ringing hard over the failing health of Jayanti Sarovar - the 33-acre landmark lake at Jubilee Park in the heart of the steel city - but civic guardian Jusco seems hard of hearing.
Conservationists believe the dissolved oxygen level in the Sarovar is fast depleting and dredging is the need of the hour, but the Tata Steel subsidiary insists that the situation isn't bad enough for corrective measures.
Environment crusader K.K. Sharma, also the former head of zoology at Jamshedpur Co-operative College, told this newspaper that the lake had become shallow enough to expose the fish to excessive heat.
"The health of Jayanti Sarovar is not good to say the least. Jusco may have taken corrective steps last year, but dissolved oxygen level is still not satisfactory. The plunging water level and extreme heat will have a negative bearing on the fish stock," he warned.
According to Sharma, Jusco should begin de-silting the lake without wasting time. "The utility major should also take steps to curb industrial effluents from flowing into the lake," he stressed.
Fearing that the Sarovar would once again turn into a mass grave like last year owing to depletion of dissolved oxygen, the Jamshedpur Angling Club is adopting contingency measures. "We have stocked 50kg of Toximar (a toxin binder)," said angling club secretary Aftab Khan.
He added that the four soak pits were not proving to be effective enough, and plastic and other waste were still making their way into the lake. "We have asked Jusco to do something about it ASAP."
Mushtaq Ahmed, an avid angler, echoed conservationists.
"The fish stock has depleted for sure. I have not netted a single catch for sometime now. Dissolved oxygen, shallow depth and pollutants are together spoiling the lake. Jusco should have taken up desilting work," he said.
Morning walkers said they had noticed a thin, oily film on the water surface along the shallow periphery of the Sarovar. "This is not a good sign. Jusco should double its efforts to keep the lake healthy," said Surya Kumar Jha, a regular at Jubilee Park.
Jusco spokesperson Rajesh Rajan claimed the situation was not alarming. "We clean the lake (surface) routinely and special sensors were installed last year that send data to our integrated command centre in Northern Town. The dissolved oxygen level is satisfactory," he said.
Rajan maintained that desilting was a time-taking process and could not be done overnight. "The depth of the lake is adequate. Some people have the habit of finding (our) faults," he added.
