Bhubaneswar, Oct. 14: The Odisha Human Rights Commission has slapped a showcause notice on the municipal corporation and asked it to furnish an action-taken report on the cleanliness parameters of the historic Bindu Sagar lake in Old Town.
The commission's notice came after a lawyer, Radhakant Tripathy, filed a petition about environmental pollution at Bindu Sagar. In his petition, Tripathy said the Odisha Construction Corporation Limited had cleared duckweed that had infested the pond. However, barely a year after the clean-up exercise, the lake is facing the same problem again.
"We have done a lot to rejuvenate Bindu Sagar. However, because of frequent rituals at nearby temples by local residents, it becomes difficult to maintain the lake. We will furnish the report to the rights commission and also develop a rigorous plan to keep it clean," said a senior official of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The 1,300ft long and 700ft wide lake is often used to conduct rituals of the Lingaraj Temple. Residents also perform shraddha at the lake.
"The lake has high historic value. If the civic body is unable to clean it, they should outsource the work to some firm with the expertise to do it," said Old Town resident Gopabandhu Tripathy.
The Telegraph had, in January 2016, reported about the state of the lake. The civic body had spent Rs 20 crore in five years to revive it. It had sanctioned another Rs 25 lakh for its cleaning and renovation in January and invited tenders for the purpose. However, there have been no developments yet on that front.
"We have selected a Gurgaon-based firm to prepare the detailed project report for the lake's rejuvenation, but we are yet to get a report from them. We recently asked them to expedite the process," the official said.
Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said the corporation would furnish the action-taken report to the rights commission. "We are taking a number of steps for Bindu Sagar's rejuvenation. It is a huge lake and needs a robust plan. We will ask the firm to begin the work shortly," he said.
