As many as 90 teams of the Water Resources Department are engaged in cleaning up more than 1,000 water bodies in the Fani-hit Puri district.
The village ponds and major water bodies in the villages of Satyabadi, Brahmagiri, Krushna Prasad, Kanas, Puri Sadar and Puri town, which are the lifeline of the rural areas, were polluted and people were facing huge hardship due to foul smell emanating from them.
Water Resources Principal Secretary Pradeep Jena visited the affected zones and talked to the villagers. He formed teams for cleaning operations and at least 90 engineers were roped in to take up the job.
Fisheries Secretary Vishal Gagan extended technical expertise in advising the team about the use of materials for cleaning the water bodies so that it would not pose threat to fishes and other aquatic animals.
As many as 1,017 ponds were taken up for cleaning and disinfection on May 15.