Keonjhar: Bhimkund, one of the major tourist destinations of this district is suffering from lack of poor maintenance and in the process creating inconvenience for visitors and people who come here to picnic.
On entering Bhimkund, which is supposed to be a ‘green area’ one finds dust, stone chips, sand, boulders and other garbage scattered around. The pollution created by these materials also causes huge problems to the visitors.
The visitors have to pay a token fee of rupees one to enter Bhimkund. The fee is collected by a local association which allegedly paid a lease of Rs 1,00,000 to get the right to collect the entry fee.
“We had heard a lot about the location. Reaching here, we were shocked to see how greenery is slowly being destroyed,” alleged tourists.
Sources said that the forest area has become a storage house for a contractor who is in charge of construction of a bridge nearby. It has been alleged that the contractor paid a hefty sum to a local political leader to use the forest area as a storage place for sand, cement, stone chips and other material thereby polluting the entire area.
Visitors, picnickers and locals demanded action against those who are deliberately harming the tourist spot.
When asked, Patna block development officer (BDO) Ishwar Chandra Nayak informed that construction material has been stored on private land. “If those are found inside the boundary area of the tourist spot, stringent action would be taken,” promised Nayak..
PNN
