Jajpur: The beautification drive for ‘Vyasa Sarovar’, a tourist site in Jajpur district has been hit hard with funds allocated for purchase of saplings, going to waste, sources said Sunday. They informed that saplings of various plants worth Rs 20 lakh had been purchased. However, none of those were planted inside the Vyasa Sarovar premises. As result, they got decayed due to exposure to sun and rain. The National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) has engaged consultancy agency ‘Krishna Builders’ to carry out beautification work within the premises of Vyasa Sarovar. The District Mineral Foundation (DMF) has sanctioned Rs 64 crore for the same purpose. The saplings were to be planted in over 200 acres of land.
However, the work was not carried out in a proper manner and the entire amount, sources said, has gone down the drain. Sources said that a case was filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over negligence in the development and beautification of Vyasa Sarovar. A bench of NGT had expressed displeasure over the delay in developmental and beautification work and issued a stay order. The district collector in an affidavit before the NGT in August 2022, quashed claims that development and beautification drives have not been conducted. He had pointed out that work was on schedule.
However, the situation of saplings drying up due to negligence provides a completely different picture from what the district collector had said. This development has sparked concern among the residents and nature lovers. It also portrays large-scale negligence by government officials and the consultancy agency who have failed to carry out proper utilisation of funds.
Sources said that the Odisha government is taking a number of initiatives to increase the green cover in the state. However, the officials are not serious about implementing the initiatives of the government, the sources added. Every year crores are being sanctioned for afforestation programmes, but none have been able to yield the desired result. When contacted, Jayveer, a senior official of ‘Krishna Builders’ said that the saplings were purchased for beautification work. However, the saplings were not planted due to the NGT stay order. The official pointed out that because of the NGT order, the beautification of Vyasa Sarovar has suffered a lot.
