Chilli Pokhari in the Brahmeswar area in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 9: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to renovate the Chilli Pokhari in ward No. 54 with an investment of Rs 20.30 lakh.

The renovation programme will include cleaning of the pond’s bed, desilting, deweeding and developing the banks of the waterbody, which was once well known in the Brahmeswar area near Daya West canal.

The renovation plan was necessitated as the pond had become polluted with discharge of wastewater from the nearby houses, restaurants. Uncontrolled dumping of solid waste has also made the pond filthy.

“The area has a population of more than 25,000. Earlier, the local residents used to take bath in the pond, the water of which was considered to be clean. But now, the same people have lost their interest in taking care of the waterbody. Conservation of waterbodies has become an important issue to retain ecological and environmental balance world over. They can help recharge the ground water level. Therefore, an effort should immediately be made to clean up this waterbody,’’ said local resident Ananta Charan Pati, who is a retired teacher.

Till 1985, the condition of the Chilli Pokhari was good and the locals used to visit it while observing their religious rituals. But water of the pond has now become so polluted that no one will be interested to stand by its banks for a while.

“We cannot blame the civic authorities for all the mess. People of the locality should have taken minimum responsibility not to pollute the waterbody by letting their sewerage water enter into the pond. When laying of sewerage pipeline has already started in the area, the civic body should now act strictly on this matter and stop people from polluting the pond,’’ Pati added.

A local businessman, Rudrakanta Patasani, added that when the civic authorities failed to take adequate measures to stop the pond from being polluted from the very beginning, people went a step further to pollute the waterbody. Now the water of the pond is polluted with weeds, wastes and sewerage water.

“The renovation plan of the pond is welcome. But there should be a permanent solution to the problem so that after the renovation work is over, no one will dare to pollute the waterbody again,’’ he said.

Councillor of ward No. 54, Malaya Kumar Mohapatra, added that the pond’s renovation work would start by the end of this month as funds are already available through the additional central assistance programme.

Another pond on the premises of the Brahmeswar temple will also be renovated along with Chilli Pokhari. A sum of Rs 17.37 lakh has been allocated for renovation of the waterbody on the temple’s premises. “We are also planning to launch an awareness programme for the local residents of our ward, so that they will come to know how to take care of the waterbodies,’’ Mohapatra said.

Senior officials of the engineering division (No. II) of the BMC informed that for the renovation plan of the Chilli Pokhari the tenders will be floated within two weeks. By the end of this month, the work order will be issued so that the contractor could start the execution of the process.

Apart from the problem of pollution, encroachment has also become a major issue with the Chilli Pokhari. Encroachment of lands surrounding the pond has caused in shrinking of the area.

“The civic authorities should also aim at removing the encroachments from the banks of the pond,’’ said Hemanta Kumar Biswal, medical representative, who lives in Shibanagar area.

“Earlier, the Chilli Pokhari area was frequented by the people from Badagada. Later, some people started living in the area and colonies like Shibanagar, Brahmeswar Bagh, Ratnakar Bagh and Bishnunagar developed. But the waterbodies of the area suffered the most with the development of the housing schemes,’’ Biswal said, adding “the BMC should finish their renovation work before the rainy season.’’