The Government has been spending lakhs of rupees for the renovation of the Ansupa lake here, but much of it is allegedly embezzled by officials of several departments every year. In the last two decades, the development of the lake looks disproportionate to the financial allotments. Several private parties were entrusted for constructing several projects in lieu of huge kickbacks to the Ministers and bureaucrats. Since the people living around Ansupa are mostly gullible and illiterate, some cunning former bureaucrats threatened them not to disclose any thing to media lest developmental work of the lake would be stalled and they will be deprived of wage labour. The Forest, Tourism, Horticulture and Agriculture departments besides the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) are the executing agencies of various development works of the lake, but in practice, rampant
corruption has derailed the growth of the rare sweet water lake of the State.
There are foreign liquor shops at the entrance of the Ansupa. The Malabiharpur site developed by the Tourism department has turned filthy and dumping yard of garbage by the picnickers. Drunkards and anti-socials have unleashed a reign of terror in the area, extorting money from the tourists and outsiders visiting the lake.
Security arrangement has been quite negligible. The CDA has been assigned to undertake the lake’s peripheral development.
It has spent crores of rupees in developing an eco-garden over eight acres of land near the lake. The Horticulture department is in charge of its maintenance. A local woman SHG has been given charge to collect ticket fees to enter into the garden and do boating in the lake from the tourists.
But the locals alleged that the funds allotted for construction of the eco garden have been embezzled with politicians and bureaucrats being hand-in-glove in it.
Saranda Unnayan Parishada president Gatikrushna Swain told this paper that several demands like ropeway from Bishnupur hill to Saranda hill, construction of peripheral roads, pindis at Bishnupur side and Panthaniwas etc are yet to be fulfilled by the CDA.