KMC fills 6 artificial ponds with 15 lakh litres of water
Times of India | 7 November 2024
12 Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has filled six artificial ponds in south Kolkata with 15 lakh litres of filtered water. According to a KMC parks and squares department official, the civic authorities last week authorised the creation of six artificial ponds for Chhath devotees in localities such as Panditiya Road, Jamir Lane (Ballygunge), Deshapran Sashmal Road and Jhaldar Math (Tollygunge) among others. The KMC water supply department was instructed to provide approximately 300 water tankers (each with a 5,000-litre capacity). These locations were chosen to set up artificial ponds as the neighbourhoods lack natural ponds or water bodies. Nevertheless, these areas have a substantial concentration of Chhath devotees, said a civic official.
Of the four provisional ponds, the one to be excavated at Tentultala ground off Panditiya Road will be the most expansive. Here, the KMC will facilitate the creation of a vast temporary reservoir measuring 65 feet x 45 feet. The initiative to establish provisional reservoirs for Chhath devotees was first undertaken by Debasish Kumar at Panditiya Road within his ward in 2019. The following year, Ballygunge ward coordinator Sudarshana Mukherjee replicated the concept and created an artificial tank at Jamir Lane. "This year we have received approval for excavating six temporary reservoirs for Chhath devotees in south Kolkata. We shall have these reservoirs prepared for Chhath devotees from tomorrow morning," said a senior KMC engineering department official. According to a KMC official, the latest addition to the artificial ponds roster has been the one at Northern Park in Bhowanipore after the natural pond near the closed Bengal Lamp factory.
Besides these six artificial ponds, several small provisional ponds have emerged in some north Kolkata neighbourhoods, including Beleghata and Narkeldanga. "We have acknowledged these new provisional ponds for Chhath and accordingly instructed the borough office to fill them with water so that these artificial water bodies are ready for the devotees from Thursday," said a KMC source.
According to a civic official, the rationale behind authorising provisional ponds was to provide a considerable percentage of areas' residents an alternative venue to perform Chhath rituals on Nov 7 and Nov 8 after Rabindra Sarobar was declared off-limits for Chhath devotees to honour a National Green Tribunal (NGT) directive to preserve the ecologically fragile national lake since 2017.