Holy pond turned into dumping yard

An age-old holy pond (Pushkarini) has become a dumping yard for all kinds of waste at Bharathi Nagar ward in the town.

“People belonging to some organisations start speaking about cleanliness campaign when they see this very old Pushkarini. They tell us that they will clear the waste and rejuvenate it. But there seems to be a competition to dump waste here than renovate it. It seems efforts are on to cover this whole Pushkarini with waste. Soon, we may have to wonder if someone tells us that there was a Pushkarini here,” Manjunath, a resident of Bharathi Nagar ward, said.

He said some people bring construction debris in lorries or tractors from other places at dawn or dusk and unload them into the Pushkarini. Manjunath also expressed apprehensions that some people were making efforts to cover the Pushkarini fully and construct buildings over it.

The pond is on the verge of extinction. The steps, which were on its three sides, are disappearing fast as they are covered in debris. Very soon, the whole pond structure may become history. Half of the area of the pond is already covered in waste and the residents are apprehensive about the disappearance of this water body.

There are only two holy ponds in the jurisdiction of the 31 Civil Municipality Council wards. One holy pond is near the Basappa convention hall. Students and the representatives of various organisations cleaned that pond as part of the Swachh Bharath campaign recently. But no one noticed the Bharathi Nagar ward’s pond. Though it is located very much near BB Road, it was not cleaned.  

It is said that some residents throw waste into the pond as they are lazy to take it to a far off place. “No one cares if people dump the garbage here. Neither the town civic body nor anyone blames them for this. Not only this, since the Pushkarini is deep, it can hold more waste too,” Ramanna, another resident of the area told Deccan Herald.

The waste disposal has led to dog menace here. The dogs which come to feed on the thrown leftovers of neighbouring houses have made this place messier. When contacted, CMC commissioner said the holy pond area belongs to the government and disposal of waste there will be controlled. He added that stringent action will be initiated against those dumping waste.