Bhubaneswar, Feb. 15: The municipal corporation has decided to reach out and enrol participation of citizens to reclaim natural water bodies in the city.

The decision comes with the Union ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation framing a new set of draft guidelines. The guidelines state that Article 51A(g) of the Constitution of India stipulates: "It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures."

In line with the article and the need to reclaim dying water bodies, the ministry has asked the urban local bodies to rope in communities and design a specific approach for reclamation of water bodies in a scientific manner. The ministry has also asked for comments from local officials on the guidelines.

"The ministry had sent us the draft guidelines and asked us to provide inputs based on the requirement of local water bodies and communities. The water bodies in this country serve many purposes, including the religious ones. Therefore, it has became necessary to design a specific plan and reclaim the water bodies while not hurting religious sentiments," said a senior official of the housing and urban development department.

The guidelines suggest that the civic body introduce a third-party inspection system to ensure that the sources of water and water bodies not get polluted.

If the inspection team finds any violation, such as dumping of garbage or even encroachment, they can take punitive action against the violators.

The guidelines also state that the authorities undertake catchments area treatment such as afforestation, storm water drainage management and slit traps. To avoid illegal encroachment, the guidelines also asked the authorities to form water users associations and hand over the water bodies to them for day-to-day maintenance. Stakeholders' participation and capacity building may be used as a tool.

Mayor Ananta Naryan Jena said the civic body had already undertaken the reclamation of 14 such natural water bodies in the city. "We have already taken up the reclamation work and are on the verge of completing the job. Large ponds such as Lakshmisagar Pond and Sundarpada Haj are left since these two are the biggest ones and need a specific reclamation plans," said Jena.

The civic body had in March last year taken up reclamation work of natural ponds and had acquired Rs 27 crore for the project. It had then decided in favour of all-round development of the water bodies, including dewatering and removal of silt deposit, improvement of erosion proof embankments, construction of retaining or guard walls for safe passage of humans and animals and so on.

"The new guidelines do not ask for any major changes, but stresses a more scientific approach towards restoring the natural water bodies. We will take the guidelines into consideration and plant trees with thick canopy cover and also ornamental shrubs on the embankment area to avoid erosion," said a senior civic body official.

Environmentalists consider the new guidelines to be robust and believe they would help restore the water bodies with ease. "Community participation is needed since they are the ones who use the water. They should take the responsibility to maintain the water bodies. The local authorities can only reclaim them. This feature of the guideline is excellent," said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.