Pushpendra Singh, Dantewada. The district administration has such a fever to show beauty that even in heavy rains the ponds are being deepened and beautified. The centuries-old old Sagar pond is crying over its plight in front of the stubbornness of the administration. The people of Barsur also call it the confluence of three ponds. Which is made up of Ram Sagar, Shiv Sagar and Krishna Sagar ponds.
Spread over 90 acres, this pond will be reduced to about 7 acres. The banks of the pond have been bridged by digging with JCB. The district administration started the work of this pond after the onset of monsoon. The pond was neither cleaned nor deepened. Only by cutting the soil with JCB, the edges were bridged. From where the soil has been raised, there have been very deep pits. Due to which the risk of life of cattle and children has increased.
The people of Barsoor Nagar Panchayat say that even the measurement of the land is stopped during the monsoon, but what new guideline has this administration come up with to get the ponds work done here. At present, the work of ponds is in full swing in the district. People are not able to do anything against this system even if they want to.
Water Resources Department’s responsibility, but that too silent
The water resources department has to determine the condition of reservoirs, ponds, rivers and drains. The department is stunned and silent on the beautification and repair of this centuries old pond. The department is not even aware that the area of Budha Sagar pond will decrease. People of more than a dozen villages cultivate vegetables from this pond in summer. The decrease in the area of the pond around seven acres can create a shortage of water for the farmers. When information about this subject was taken from the officials of the Water Resources Department, they said that the RES department is getting the work done there. Information has been sought by writing a letter to the department. It is not known what work is going on in that pond.
The original form of the pond of Chhindak dynasty
Khasra No. 644 has the original pond of 63.88 acres in the revenue records. After this there is the land of submergence area. This includes 10.33 acres of Khasra No. 605/2 and 7.27 acres of Khasra No. 607/2. The area is so big. Seven acres of land will be reduced from this area. Seeing the decreasing area of the pond, people are upset and anger is also growing in their mind. The original form of the pond of Chhindak dynasty is shrinking. Beautification, deepening is still on the margins for four months now. This work has been done in monsoon itself, when all the works related to soil are banned by the government.
The pond located in Chitalanka in the district headquarters has become bad. Work worth crores is being done in the name of beautifying this pond. Had the intention of the administration been to get better work done, it would have chosen the right time. People say that the intention behind getting the pond work done in the rainy season is to whitewash it. This pond was emptied in the month of June. Now its deepening is being done. If there is deepening in the rain, then this pond will never be filled to the brim. To fill water in this pond, one has to wait for the second monsoon. People around say that this pond never dries up. For the first time, due to the kindness of the administration, the pond is thirsty in the rainy season.
Complete work to D grade contractors
There is a clear guideline of the government that after June 15, earth work will not be done. Despite this, work is being done indiscriminately in the district. The surprising thing is that the work worth crores was divided into pieces. The work of a pond has been divided into 9 pieces of 50 to 80 lakhs each. Such a huge work has been done to benefit D grade contractors. Local people say that the intention of the administration is to benefit their favorite contractors.
