Bhubaneswar: On World Environment Day (June 5), a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to clean up Bindusagar pond, the holy pond in use since the 8th century for daily rites of Lingaraj temple, within three months.
The memorandum was signed between Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC), on behalf of the Government of Odisha and Institute of Chemical Technology, IndianOil Odisha Campus, Bhubaneswar on Friday, June 5 at the OBCC office premise.
Jaya Krishna Das, Managing Director of OBCC and Prof Bhaskar N Thorat, Director ICT-IOC, IIT-KGP Extension Center, BBSR signed the MoU on behalf of their organisations.
As per the understanding, ICT IOC Bhubaneswar will study and implement the pond clean up project of all 5 ponds including Bindusagar, within three months from the date of signing up of the MoU, subject to Covid19 restrictions.
Cleaning up of the rest four ponds will be taken afterwards, the Mou said.
The pond clean up project will be funded from CSR expenditure of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) while it will be carried out by ICT IOC, Bhubaneswar. The institute has also agreed to borne the maintenance expenses for a period of three years. The state government will provide electricity free of charge for the projects, as per the MoU signed today.
A state-of-the-art technology known as Hydrodynamic Cavitation will be applied for cleaning up the water of the 14 ponds. The technology has been developed by the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and has been successfully implemented in several projects throughout the country.
ICT IOC Bhubaneswar will take the help of ITC Mumbai to design the system for cleaning up the ponds, including the 21-acre area of Bindusagar, biggest among all the holy ponds situated near Lingaraj Temple area.