JEYPORE: Hope for revival of Jagannath Sagar, the biggest manmade pond of the State dating back to over 300 years, in Koraput has brightened with the district administration making moves to assess its condition and firm up plans for restoration.Acting on the directions of the National Green Tribunal, a fact-finding team formed by the administration visited the pond and took stock of the situation there. Two months back, the Jagannath Sagar Development Committee had approached the National Green Tribunal seeking its intervention to check dumping of waste into the pond and removing encroachments. The Tribunal had directed the district administration to find out the extent of pollution and take steps for its cleaning.
The team led by OSPCB Regional Officer Prashant Kar found out that unchecked release of municipality sewage has severely polluted the pond. Further, a large part of the water body is used for dumping garbage, which has not only affected the water quality but also threatened its aquatic species. Over 1,000 fishermen of Jayanagar, Paiko Street and New Street depend on the pond to eke out a living. However, fish catch has come down over the years due to pollution.
“The pollution could have been averted had the officials concerned stopped release of sewage”, said Kar, adding that the findings would be submitted to Collector.According to historians, the then King Ramchandra Dev-II had excavated the pond on a patch of 300 acres by hiring 10,000 labourers in 1716 and the British East India Company accorded tourist destination tag to the pond three years later. From 300 acres, the pond has now shrunk to just 159 acres due to rampant encroachment.
The pond was created with an aim of maintaining environmental balance and meeting the water requirements of people of both Koraput and Nabarangpur districts. Its scenic beauty drew a large number of tourists till a few years back.The Tourism department had developed parks and garden on both sides of the pond. However, these facilities are badly maintained.
A few years back, the Water Resources department had cleaned and renovated the pond at an expense of `1 crore but since then no maintenance work has been taken up. Additional Tehsildar MR Patanik said that measures will be taken soon to free the pond from encroachments. Jeypore Sub-Collector LN Dalbehera has also directed the civic body authorities to check release of drain water into the pond at the earliest.
POLLUTION SCAR
While sewage water of the entire town is released into Jagannath Sagar round the year by the municipality, weeds and water hyacinths cover half the pond.
Although the historical pond has immense tourism potential, it is covered with wild vegetation and plastic waste.
Fish catch from the pond has come down over the years due to pollution