Bhubaneswar: The civic body has started preparing the holy Bindu Sagar tank in Old Town for devotees in view of the upcoming Boita Bandana festival.

The civic body started the drive today by cleaning its ghats. Later, it will remove weeds from the tank. The drive will continue till the conduct of the Boita Bandana, scheduled to be held in the early hours of Saturday.

Boita Bandana is celebrated on the auspicious day of Kartik Purnima. People celebrate the festival to recall their maritime past. Ships that were built in ancient Odisha during the period of Kalinga Empire were referred to as boitas.

On the occasion, people sail miniature boats in the Bindu Sagar.

"We value the sentiments of the people related to the festival and are taking adequate efforts for its smooth conduct at Bindu Sagar in Old Town," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

An official said the civic body would carry out repair of the ghats and clean the banks of the tank over the next four days. Once the festival is over, another round of cleanliness drive will take place.

"The main work we have to do is after the festival when we clean the tank of the small boats, flowers and other materials," said Jena.

The Odia merchants of old -called sadhabas - used the boitas to travel to distant lands such as Bali, Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka and Malaysia to conduct trade. They start their journey on the day of Kartik Purnima.

"We are proud of our glorious past and celebrate the day by floating boitas made of banana barks and other materials in the river, ponds and seas in the early hours of Kartik Purnima. We then take a holy dip in the water," said Jagannath Rath, a resident of Old Town.

The civic body is also planning to sensitise people to avoid floating miniature boats made of thermocol or other similar hard or plastic materials.

"We are planning to carry out the awareness drive and also put up posters at the ghats to stop people from floating thermocol boats since they are not biodegradable and pollute the water," said a civic body official.