Citizens protest against Lake Beautification in Ranchi

RANCHI: Under the shadow of the Jharkhand Civil Society, influential citizens of Ranchi staged a demonstration near the landmark Ranchi Lake, accusing the Ranchi Municipal Corporation of dirtying and shrinking the reservoir in the name of beautification.

Lawyers, businesspersons and social workers were among the protesters. According to the campaigners, beautification amounted to nothing but encroachment and excessive concretisation of the reservoir, even as basic issues of cleanliness and rejuvenation were ignored.

A 33-feet high statue of Swami Vivekanand has been installed near Vivekanand Sarovar, a British-era reservoir, popularly known as Bada Talab. Bada Talab is in the process of getting 2 km long and 10 feet wide landscaped pathways around it with vintage lamps, and guarded by railings, as per Ranchi Municipal Corporation concept. This, on the lines of Marine Drive in Mumbai, would enable walkers to get a feel of flowing water of the lake, the authorities claimed.

Khushboo Kataruka, a member of Jharkhand Civil Society and Jharkhand High Court lawyer,  who was at the protest said that they aimed, through demonstration conducted on April 6, to draw the attention of the masses towards over 150 years old lake that was gradually being encroached from all sides in the name of development.

“Jharkhand Civil Society has raised its voice against unwanted concretisation and excessive delay in beautification of Ranchi Bada Talab. While sewage keeps flowing into the lake unheeded, contaminating groundwater, JCB machines are seen filling up the lake and drying it up for encroachment and reducing the lake area (for constructions). If all this is not stopped in time and water is not cleaned, the entire ecosystem of the lake will collapse,” Kataruka said.