Maharashtra: Bunding wall at Ramkund to be rebuild

Scarcity of water has left the Ramkund in the river Godavari dry once again after it was filled with water brought by tankers. The people's representatives, NGOs and the municipal administration is trying out various measures to meet the need for water.

In one such measure suggested by the mayor and the deputy mayor, soon there may be plans to reduce the length of the Ramkund once again by building a bunding wall separating it from the rest of the flow of the river. The wall, which existed earlier, was dismantled during the Kumbhmela last year to accommodate large number of pilgrims taking bath in the Ramkund.

After the Ramkund went dry for the first time in the history, the purohits demanded that water to be released in the holy pond as large number of pilgrims visit the place. Many solutions were made to fill it with water, the one Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) adopted was pouring water through tankers. However, the Ramkund with its extended capacity now needs about 20 lakh litres of water to fill it; whereas the tankers could hardly manage 36,000 litres of water. The extended capacity has now become a problem, hence, the solution is to rebuild the bunding wall thereby reducing its capacity.

Earlier, the NMC had suggested digging bore wells near Ramkund to extract water and fill the pond but this was largely objected to by the NGOs. The only solution was to fill the pond with the help of tankers. But to get the private tankers to fill the pond to its capacity every day is asking for too much.

"The NMC is playing around with Ramkund and its sentiments", stated Devang Jani, a petitioner who has filed a PIL to remove the concretisation of the river bed. "I had opposed this measure of releasing water by tankers as we are not utilising a proper solution to the problem. Many measures like opening up of the flood gates below the Victoria bridge to release water in the Ramkund directly were suggested. The gates are not in working condition presently but can be repaired and used as there is water behind the gates for up to 5.5km stretch at least. This water can be utilised," Jani stated.

If the gates can't be repaired, the water can be lifted by pumps, purified and released in the Ramkund. The system of purification with pipe lines exists at the base of the Ramkund, Jani suggested.

The NMC, meanwhile, released water from Gandhi talav (pond) but this water is totally polluted as boating is carried out in Gandhi talav. Attempts were also made to release filtered water through water pipelines, but this was strongly objected and hence stopped immediately. The tankers are doing their best but it is not enough, Jani opined. Hence, there are plans to build the wall once again and reduce the capacity so that tankers can fill the holy pond. This measure is again criticised by the NGOs.