The restoration work of prominent ponds in the city is still hanging in balance and has again raised eyebrows of city residents, who often have to face the brunt of water scarcity during the summer season. Regardless of repeated reminders and intervention of Minister into the matter, the restoration work of four major ponds is yet to get complete.
The restoration work of Jora Talab, Hatma Talab including Dumsha Toli Talab has been pending for quite some time now. Minister, Urban Development, Housing and Planning, CP Singh during a review meeting had issued instruction to ensure the restoration task of ponds to be covered in first phase on or before March 31, 2018 at any circumstance before the onset of monsoon.
When inquired about the present status of ponds restoration work, Deputy Mayor, Sanjiv Vijayawargia said that constant follow-up of pending projects is being done. “At present, three ponds are undergoing the restoration process. The contractors handling the projects have been instructed to speed-up the task. If, in a month, the contractors are unable to complete the work as per the contract, they will be debarred immediately,” the Deputy Mayor added, assuring completion of project at the earliest.
Notably, in the first phase over 12 water reservoirs were expected to be covered under the ‘ponds rejuvenation project’. The ponds restoration work began in 2016 and was expected to get complete within a year but due to the laidback approach Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) officials and companies’ handling the project, the plan kept lingering for long. The beautification project rolled out at a cost of Rs 3.35 cr to revamp and de-silt the water bodies includes beautification of area around the ponds as one of its key features. The pond restoration task primarily involves constructing staircases, making boundary walls around the ponds, developing pathways and jogger tracks, planting saplings including mounting up lights and fountains. Meanwhile, civil construction around ponds comes to halt during monsoon season. Also, exceeding the deadlines for completing the ponds beautification task creates trouble for city residents as de-silting in the peak season severely affects ground water level. “It was during early stages when some problems arouse and we had received complaints from city residents, at present, de-silting task of all ponds are over. Minor civil construction works are left which is likely to get covered up soon,” Vijayawargia stated.