Bhubaneswar: The state tourism department has sanctioned another Rs 7 crore and asked the municipal corporation to restore the Bindu Sagar pond on a priority basis.

Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda made the announcement in the council meeting of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in June.

He directed officials to prepare plans to revive the pond and recharge its water by connecting it to underground pipeline of river Daya.

He also instructed the officials to clean the pond and construct proper embankments, besides starting the much-awaited light and sound show.

"We have got necessary directions and will take steps to revive Bindu Sagar on a priority manner," said a civic body official.

The fresh grant will be used to develop and restoration five adjacent ponds along with Bindu Sagar. If all goes according to plan, Bindu Sagar and five other ponds will be connected to the Daya for recharge of water.

However, all the ponds are in bad shape. The water gets polluted due to discharge of wastewater from nearby households and other establishments. The ponds are filled with weeds, while local resident keep encroaching the embankments.

This is not the first time that grants have been sanctioned to revive the sacred pond. The 1,300ft long and 700ft wide Bindu Sagar holds significance among the local residents as it is used to conduct rituals of the Lingaraj Temple. Residents also use the pond to perform shraddha and during boita bandana.

The civic body has spent over Rs 23 crore to develop the pond in the past seven years, but has only experienced failure.

Repeated failures and the fresh attempt to revamp the pond have failed to impress the citizens.

"The civic body is only beating around the bush and doing nothing substantial. The temple city was once known for its beautiful man-made and natural ponds. Now, most of those beauties have vanished. I fear Bindu Sagar will also meet the same fate," said Jagannath Acharya, an octogenarian at Old Town.

However, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena aired confidence in their attempt to redevelop the pond.

"We have faced several difficulties in restoring the pond in the past. Most of these were due to local opposition. We are not going to tolerate any such thing this time. We are aware of the sentiments of the people and will take utmost care of it," said Jena.