Jhumpura: Badabandh, a massive lake, used to be a lifeline for the farm sector in Jhumpura block of Keonjhar district. Over the years, silt has choked up the lake. Now, the water body is gasping for breath in the absence of any government initiative to renovate it.
Local farmers have repeatedly been appealing to the administration and the irrigation department for its renovation, but there is no response from the officials.
Along with farmers, a member of zilla parishad-17 Anubrata Behera submitted a memorandum to the district administration again, seeking dredging and removal of silt deposits from the lake to make it usable for irrigation.
Meanwhile, sarpanch Baijayant Nayak has passed a resolution in the panchayat in this regard and sent it to the BDO, though local farmers have lost hopes for renovation of the lake.
“The monsoon is round the corner, we don’t believe the renovation of the lake will be carried out in a short period,” farmers said.
For local farmers like Jugal Behera, Phuna Behera, Hemant Singh, Gangadhar Sai, Lilu Behera, Ajay Nayak, Dasarath Nayak, Sushil Giri, Thuli Pradhan and Dambaru Das, the sprawling 10-acre lake is a lifeline in the kharif season.
Srirampur south irrigation project canal is connected with Badabandh. From there, water is supplied to hundreds of acres of land through two canals. Besides, thousands of people from four wards of the panchayat use water from the lake for daily needs.
In the last few years, the lake has not been renovated. As a result, reed, hyacinth and silt deposits have bunged it up reducing its depth and water retaining capacity. Canals have been choked, depriving the farmlands of irrigation facility. Worse, some people have illegally occupied parts of the lake and canal banks.
Jhumpura GPO said there is a proposal for renovation of Badabandh. “It will be executed,” he added.
However, the BDO could not be contacted.
