City lakes will get a fresh lease of life
Suburban district collector and an NGO plan to restore dying water bodies…….Ashwin Aghor
Not many people know that there are over 95 lakes in the city. However, the condition of most of them is poor. These lakes had almost gone in oblivion till volunteers of MOB, a city-based NGO, conducted a survey.
The volunteers approached the suburban district collector and presented a proposal to restore and beautify the lakes. The suburban district collector Vishwas Patil approved the proposal and decided to undertake the work with the NGO’s help. The project is slated to start in two months.
“The depleting ground water levels prompted us to undertake the survey a year back. We were shocked to see that over 95 lakes were in dismal condition,” said Amit Jathar, treasurer of MOB.
Jathar said the garbage, debris and the drainage water were polluting the lakes. “We do not want to beautify the lakes by constructing a wall around them and creating picnic spots. Our objective is to revive the entire ecosystem,” said Girish Dhoke, chairman of MOB. He explained that to restore the natural state of the water bodies, they would need to carry out desilting. “Measures have to be taken to stop dumping of garbage. The drains releasing waste in the lakes have to be cut off. After this, filtration process would be undertaken to increase the oxygen levels in the water.”
Dhoke said the process of revival of each lake would take around 30 months and would involve a minimum of Rs30-40 lakh.
“It is time that the lakes and the marine life in the city are rejuvenated. Effective check on pollution in the lakes is the primary requirement of the process,” Jathar said.
The suburban district collector’s office also conducted a survey for five months and confirmed the NGOs findings. “Negligence in maintenance, discharge of waste in the lakes and human interference in the ecosystem has led to tremendous degradation of the water bodies. The government is taking initiative to preserve and restore the lake with the help of corporates, NGOs, and individuals,” said Patil.
“The project will concentrate on three major areas of concern such as restoration, management and protection to help the city to gain its ecological balance,” added Jathar.