BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Clean Bindusagar initiative on Saturday.
The Chief Minister, who inaugurated the initiative through video-conference, said that Bindusagar is linked with all pilgrimage centres in the country and is a symbol of national integration. “We should all come forward in lending a hand to clean and preserve the holy lake,” he said.
The Union Minister said Bindusagar is one of the oldest lakes and latest technology is being used to clean it up. “We had earlier requested the Odisha government to take up the project,” he said.
Pradhan said guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national movement for Swachh Bharat, the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) campus in Bhubaneswar along with the state government will implement the project to clean up and revive the oldest and largest water body in the capital city of Bhubaneswar.
Vice-chancellor of ICT AB Pandit said that the technology was used in cleaning up a lake in Maharashtra. In about three to four weeks time, people can see a change in the colour of the water in the lake, he said.
Workers of the ruling BJD and BJP, however, indulged in slogan shouting during the function, in which besides Pradhan and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, works minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik and minister of state for science and technology Ashok Chandra Panda were present.
Official sources said that Rs 70 lakh from the Indian Oil CSR fund is being invested for this initiative. ICT-IOC campus along with the Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC) will implement the project. Four pumping systems along with hydrodynamic cavitation reactor (HDC reactor will be used around Bindusagar to make the water clean and increase the aesthetic value of the lake.
The Odisha government has started the ambitious Ekamra Kshetra heritage project which was announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2019. The project involves comprehensive development of the Lingaraj temple and its periphery covering 66 acres of land.