The historic Raja Talab in Jharia, established by its erstwhile king Durga Prasad Singh in late 1920s, will soon sport a grand look with a laser fountain worth Rs 6 crore and greenery all around.

Now that its desilting and dewatering is complete, Dhanbad Municipal Corporation is planning to start its Rs 10 crore beautification work from February-end.

The pond, which is at the centre of all religious activities of the district like idol immersions or Chhath arghya, will have facilities like boating. A cafeteria and sewerage treatment plant will also be built near its banks.

Giving details on Friday, Dhanbad mayor Chandrashekhar Agarwal said that the tender was finalised last week and work would begin by the end of this month. "Massive plantation will be carried out all around the pond, spread over 8.46 acres of area. Instead of saplings, we will plant grown-up plants," said Agarwal.

He added Rs 58 lakh desilting and dewatering work got completed last year. "Now the final clean-up and beautification is left."

The state government had allotted funds for the desilting and dewatering work in October 2014. After that there was change of the guard in Ranchi and due to imposition of model code of conduct and Assembly elections, the work got delayed. The work finally began in April, 2015, but was suspended midway during monsoon. It was completed in February 2016.

Then a detailed project report for the beautification work was made in March-April, 2016, and its tendering started in October. The tenders were finalised last week.

The pond is grappling with a host of issues like rampant pollution and encroachments on its southern bank by nearby residents. They use it for bathing, washing clothes and utensils besides construction of their houses.

They also dump garbage in the pond.