Sambalpur: The Odisha government is actively digging ponds for rainwater conservation and groundwater recharge apart from the primary purpose of daily usage of residents. Recently, the state government also announced special sanction of funds for digging ponds.
However, large ponds which have formed after extraction of stones in Sambalpur district are facing extinction threat as authorities instead of putting these ponds into use are reportedly trying to fill those up with fly ash produced by various industrial plants in the district. This has sparked resentment among the local residents.
The matter came to the fore after the Jujumura tehsildar issued a notice to Niranjan Panda, the sarpanch of Jhankarpali panchayat, seeking his opinion on filling up a pond by dumping fly ash.
It is learnt that a private fly ash transporter is trying to get the contract awarded in its favour to dump fly ash in the artificial pond created at Hatibari mouza under the panchayat and tehsil to bury the pond.
The tehsildar has also given a time frame of a fortnight to the residents of Jhankarpali panchayat to file their objections regarding filling up the pond with fly ash and burying it. Their objections, if any, will not be entertained after expiry of the deadline, the notice said.
The local RI has informed the local sarpanch about the development and sought his response and that of the residents in this regard. Locals alleged that tehsil officials are trying to pollute the area by dumping fly ash in the pond without conducting a public hearing.
Reports said that a large pond has been created on five-acre land on plot no-2481 and khata no168 following stone mining in the area. The creation of the artificial pond has proven to be beneficial for the farmers. They have been irrigating their farmlands by drawing water from the pond using motorised pumps.
Moreover, locals have been using the pond for their daily needs and other works. Wild animals also quench their thirst by drinking water from the pond. However, efforts by the Jujumura tehsil authorities to fill up the pond with fly ash and bury it have drawn flak from various quarters.
The villagers alleged that the authorities are trying to bury the pond without conducting any gram sabha or palli sabha. “We demanded to conduct public hearing but the tehsil authorities are trying to evade us,” alleged residents of Hatibari and Jamtal villages.
The villagers have lodged complaints in this regard with the tehsildar and their local sarpanch but their pleas are yet to be addressed.
Village committee president Meghanath Kathar, villagers Ajay Behera, Akash Swain, Girigobardhan Patra and Okil Jhankar have submitted a written complaint to the tehsildar demanding to stop filling the pond.
When contacted, tehsildar Abhishek Sahu said his office had sought a feasibility report from the panchayat after the private firm applied to fill up the pond with fly ash. He has sent the report to his higher-ups after receiving the report from the panchayat. This much has been done in the first phase and it is yet to be finalised, he added.
PNN