CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, April 9: The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Saturday started the cleaning up of water blooms from Swami Vivekananda Sarovar. The cleaning was done via a sewerage truck which sucked in water hyacinth and water blooms from a part of the lake.
Lagatar24.com had reported a story on April 3 regarding the condition of the lake and after that actions were taken by the RMC. However, it seems that despite the cleaning the lake had again developed a layer of water blooms.
The officials from RMC have said that the cleaning process will take some time as it will be done on different parts.
“We are focusing on parts which have high amounts of pollution and water blooms and slowly we will move to other parts and cover the complete lake in coming weeks,” the official said.
The lake has been a dumping place for the local residents and that has affected the aquatic life present in the water body. Many complaints have also been made earlier but very few actions were taken.
Khushboo Kataruka, Advocate at Jharkhand High Court had earlier filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in person and requested the High Court to direct the RMC to clean the water and stop the discharge of sewage into the lake and set up a treatment plant.
Algae blooms occurring in lakes disrupt the natural balance and degrade water quality. Additionally, algae that grow rapidly and in excess end up suffocating other aquatic organisms.
In January 2019, the then Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das had unveiled a 33-feet tall bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda along with renaming the lake from Ranchi Lake to Vivekananda Sarovar. He also made sure that the lake will get a makeover along with boating facilities at night but nothing such has happened yet.
