BHAWANIPATNA: The historic pond Asha Sagar, once treated as the lifeline of Bhawanipatna, is on the verge of extinction due to large-scale encroachment and negligence by authorities.
The wetland, which added to the town’s beauty, was constructed by the then Maharaja Uditpratap Deo between 1860 and 1873 AD in the name of his younger queen Ashakumari Devi. It was built over Ghodaghat Nala, a stream in the form of a Kata with a total area of 106 acres. The pond’s water storage area was 99 acre with a depth of 30-40 feet. Home to various fish species, the pond was used by residents for their daily needs. It also helped irrigate 200 acre of agricultural farm setup at Arkabaheli in 1946.
Over the years, the water body was neglected and became a target of land grabbers. At present, the water storage area has reduced to 65 acre from the original 99 acre. Major drains from Bhawanipatna municipality are released into Asha Sagar that has turned it into a garbage disposal area, making it unsuitable for human or cattle use.
The government had sanctioned Rs 1 crore under Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP) in 2006-07 and Rs 2 crore under the Minor Irrigation (MI) division, Bhawanipatna in 2009-10 to renovate the pond. However, allegedly due to haphazard work and erection of new embankments inside the reservoir, the water storage and total area of the pond were reduced. This helped encroachers to grab land along the bank of the pond.
A sum of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were were made available in 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively from Western Odisha Development Council for its development. In 2018, the MI division floated a tender and executed work at an estimated cost of Rs 2.1 crore. Currently, Bhawanipatna municipality is planning to revive the available areas of Asha Sagar with an estimated cost of Rs 6.66 crore. Though de-watering, de-weeding, and compressing of embankments were done three years ago, the beautification work is still pending.
However, no steps have yet been taken to evict encroachers who have constructed buildings on the bank of the pond.