BERHAMPUR: Unplanned growth is telling upon the wetlands of this south Orissan town. With waterbodies shrinking, drinking water is becoming a precious commodity. These wetlands also used to control the ever escalating summer temperature.
"The Hatibandh pond was big enough to bath elephants. But it doesn't exist today. Instead, there are rows of concrete houses," a senior citizen Chitta Ranjan Das said.
Similar is the fate of other waterbodies in the city. The Berhampur Development Agency (BDA) had filled up Tameya Bandha, one of the major ponds in the town recently to construct a park.
A retired engineer, Ananta Bhola said, canals of river Rushikulya flowing through the town used to fill up the ponds and maintain the groundwater level during summer. "But it is no more so. The system was perhaps designed by the then administrators because Berhampur was not on the banks of any river," he said.
The canal system was constructed in such a way that there was no water-logging in any part of the town during the monsoons. The water used to drain into the ponds. But today, waterlogging is common even after a slight drizzle due to encroachment of wetlands.
According to government records, there are over 70 waterbodies in the town and are in the possession of municipality, revenue and private parties. But many exist only on record.
The existing ponds are not suitable for use. Water in some ponds is contaminated while several others are filled with garbage. The authorities, however, said they have made elaborate plans to reconstruct and renovate the waterbodies under the Central government's Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (IDSSMT).
"The Central government has provided about Rs 8 crore under the scheme," commissioner of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) Bhim Manseth said. The total project cost is Rs 16 crore, he added. While 25 ponds have been renovated under the scheme, another 17 will be given facelifts soon, he said.
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