‘Dying’ Heritage Temple Tanks In Bhubaneswar Dangerously Contaminated: Report

Bhubaneswar: The heritage temple tanks, ponds and wells in the Old Town area of Bhubaneswar have been reduced to a shadow of their past glory, according to ‘Sacred Waters: Preservation Strategy for Temple Tanks’ released by Intach.

Anisha Swain, Preservation Architect, who conducted a meticulous study of the present status of these tanks, said that relentless urbanisation and neglect in maintenance had degenerated the water bodies, reducing those into cess pools.

The report was released by Intach’s State Convener A B Tripathy and Director General, KIIT School of Architecture & Planning, Dr S S Ray at Old Town here on Sunday.

Tripathy said that Bhubaneswar and other cities like Puri, Cuttack, Berhampur, Paralakhemundi, Jajpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Balasore and Sambalpur have many temple tanks. “Besides temple tanks, Odisha has close to 150,000 pokharis or common village ponds. All of these are in a state of utter neglect,” he claimed.

Anil Dhir, Intach’s Bhubaneswar Convener, said that there is urgent need for reviving these temple tanks. “The natural aquifers have all dried up due to depletion of ground water resulting from sinking of deep bore wells in the heritage zone,” he added.

According to the report, waters of 30 tanks surveyed were tested in certified labs and 18 were found to be dangerously contaminated. “The presence of E Coli Bacteria and Faecal bacteria was found in almost all the tanks. Very low Ph and Dissolved Oxygen levels have rendered these tanks as dead water bodies. The presence of alarming levels of pesticides, metals, algae, including arsenic and fluoride have made these tanks and their waters unusable.”

It, therefore, insisted on proper signage warning people against wading into the waters.

The report suggested that polluting the temple tanks should be discouraged by meting out stricter consequences. “The inlets and the outlets should be regularly cleaned and maintained. The maintenance of the tanks should be entrusted to local stakeholder committees. The report will be useful for conservationists, heritage experts, ASI and the State Archaeology in formulating plans for saving these vitally important water bodies,” it added.

The programme was conducted by Prof Adyash Das and question-answer-session was moderated by education leader and author Panchami Manoo Ukil.