‘Budha Talab’ to regain its lost glory
| Date :27-May-2020 |
Fishermen cleaning the waterweeds and watercress from Budha Talab.
Staff Reporter :
RAIPUR,
The grand old pond of Raipur city, the14th-Century ‘Budha Talab’ is again on its way to regain the lost glory of heyday as the Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) launched a massive cleanup operation, which will be followed by a beautification project. The cleaning project is in full swing even as a political duel over the participation of administrative officials in cleaning work rages on between the former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar.
There are so many ponds in the city, but none of them comes close to the sheer expanse and historical significance associated with the Budha Talab. Built over 600-year-ago during the reign of Kalchuri monarchy, Budha Talab only gained significance over time. After the Kalchuri kings, British officers also loved to de-stress near the tranquil water of the pond. Some European travellers once wrote a eulogy in the glory of the pond. A rock edict of 1402 AD was recovered from the water contained a lot of information about its history.
The lake once believed to have been covered an area expanding up to present-day Police Line, but as the human population grew, pond shrunk in size. The Pond was later come to be named as Swami Vivekananda Sarovar for Swami Ji spent some valuable time of his life here, unwinding on the embankment of the lake. The pond was designed so smartly that it never dries up.
Many believe the Budha Talab is connected to the Maharajbandh Talab. Not so long ago, the pond was embellished by the blooming lotus flowers and people thronged to watch the lotus bloom in full night. But, overtime the pond lost all the brilliance and grandeur as pollutants discharged by several drain lines ravaged the water and a large section of it blanketed by suffocating watercress and silt. Some attempts at cleaning the pond were made in the past but of no avail. As there was no control over the drains and people washing clothes or releasing buffaloes in the water, the pond remained dirty and polluted. Now at the initiative of Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) has once again commenced a cleaning drive. Over 85 sanitation workers, 30 additional contractual labourers and local 50 fishermen with the help of big landmovers are dredging out the filth from the pond. So far they have cleaned over 1050 trucks full of silt and watercress from the pond.
Many such cleaning drives had been conducted in the past, but the pond relapsed again. So what’s the difference this time? The difference is the interest and participation of political leaders and senior administrative officers from the Cabinet Ministers to Chief Secretary RP Mandal, in cleaning operation. They all came and lend helping hand in cleaning. Also, the authorities have a plan to beautify and develop the surroundings of the pond and not just leave it on its fate after the cleaning, only to let it slip back. Former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh took a potshot at the Mayor and State Government when Chief Secretary volunteered in cleaning work, saying the Administration is cleaning the pond when it should have been making arrangements for the migrant labourers. Mayor Dhebar countered the criticism, citing an online poll on twitter, where citizens overwhelmingly voted in favour of the participation of political leaders and administrative officials in the cleaning of the pond.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inspecting the Budha Talab. Also seen is Urban Administration Minister Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya.
Beautification of Budha Talab in line of Marine Drive: CM The historic Budha Talab, situated in the heart of State Capital Raipur, would be another centre of attraction like Telibandha ‘Marine Drive’. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday inspected Budha Talab and said that an action plan would be prepared for the beautification of the lake. However, the Chief Minister said that the lake should be first cleaned. The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) that has been cleaning the lake since May 11 to set it free from water hyacinth and garbage dumped by the citizens of the city. The Chief Minister asked the officials to make people living surrounding the lake to not dump garbage in the lake. Sewerage water should also be prevented from entering the pond, said the Chief Minister. Earlier, the Chief Minister had directed to make Raipur city tanker free which has yielded positive results. Number of tankers supplying water to the denizens has reduced. Urban Administration Minister Dr Shiv Kumar Dahariya, MLA Kuldeep Juneja, MLA Vikas Upadhyay, Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, RMC Speaker Pramod Dubey, Chief Secretary R P Mandal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Rakesh Chaturvedi, RMC Commissioner Sourabh Kumar and others accompanied the Chief Minister on the occasion.