Boating be disallowed, use of lake-water be banned
Nagpur: Albeit Malgujari lake in Koradi Srikshetra is meant for boating these days with a view to entertain the devotees/ tourists visiting the site of Koradi temple, the water in the lake has got highly polluted, causing health hazard to the tourists/ devotees. Unaware of polluted water, the dogmatic devotees drink that water, wash their faces, rinse their mouth, under false notion that the lake-water, if consumed, removes all sorts of obstacles from the life of man.
The Koradi temple priests daily takes bath in this lake and resume the routine activities of Karadi Mata Temple. It is also said that in the ancient times, the Devi (Goddess) used to take bath in the same lake. But the said lake is no more sacrosanct. Now, it has become polluted since year 1995, when the power generation plant was set up, and the plant’s pollution was (and is being) released into lake.
Today's Rate
Thursday 19 Dec. 2024
Though the young generation does not believe in the dogmatic values attached to the lake, the old generation people and pregnant women and women with their small children undeterred use the polluted water of the lake, without realizing that their health is being put to hazards. Moreover, they do not understand that the unborn lying inside womb, and the aged are susceptible to any infection caused by polluted lake-water, claim the medical professionals.
In the name of boating, the boatmen (their agents) are minting money from visitors. On the other hand, local knowledgeable citizens like Lalsingh Thakur and Sandeep Agrawal claim that the polluted lake-water is infested with minute insects, maggots, centipede, leach, earthworm, snail, water-snakes and fish, etc., in abundance. It may be noted that regarding the pollution of the lake the local Legislators had already raised issue in the State Legislature in year 2010, expressing their concern about hazard to human health.
What is causing more concern is that the polluted water of lake is seeping into ground-water levels of wells, hand-pumps and other resources, and their water too is getting polluted. The chemists of Pollution Control Board had examined the samples of water and certified it as highly polluted, with a caution not to use the water. Even the power generation plant administration was served a notice to this effect, but the authorities are turning their deaf ears on the issue.
The citizens are now demanding that the boating be disallowed and the invisible person responsible for conducting boating as a money-minting business be penalized.
Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha ( rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com )
