Water is life, reservoirs are needed to store rainwater.

Water is life, reservoirs were built to store rainwater. At the time of independence, there were 24 lakh ponds or ponds in our country. In 2000-2001, ponds, Bamfi, etc. wetlands in the country were enumerated. After counting, it was found that there are 5 lakh swamps. Even today, in areas like Bundelkhand, Kalahandi, Telangana, Latur, people look up to the sky for Mundai water.

On 28th January 2021, Supreme Court Judge Markandeya Katju said a logical thing that our ancient men were not stupid, they knew that there would be a drought or water problem in a certain period, so swamps were built in every village, ponds were also built near every temple. This conserved the traditional rainwater source.

Today, when we go to any village or temple, we see the real picture of swamps being neglected. Some big cities have their identity from the wetlands, for example Adilabad and Hyderabad. The potter takes clay from the swamp and makes his clay vessels. Swamps solve water problems. Fishermen earn their living by farming fish in the swamps.

A recent review of restoration and beautification of wetlands in urban areas of Bhubaneswar. 31 in South-West Zone, 47 in South-East Zone and 27 in North Zone. There are 105 wetlands in the region. Out of them, BMC has taken up the restoration work of 92 swamps, leaving the swamps under archaeological survey.

For the development of these wetlands, it has been decided to carry out various works such as development of earthen embankments, plantation, water treatment, water wells, ponds and stone piling around the wetlands. Nicopark reservoir near Drain No. 10, water tank near Drain No. 7, Naples Haj, Gangua and 7 mouths are being worked on. Most of the total 78 thousand 555 swamps in Odisha have been buried. Many uses are not useful due to garbage, sewage water.

According to the Government Park and Garden Society, there are currently 629 ponds, 180 ponds are encroached, 70 are partially occupied and 110 are completely illegally occupied. Most of the ponds are dumped with garbage, sewage, etc., which is not doing any good. In 2014, the Uttar Pradesh government admitted in an RTI reply that 40,200 ponds have disappeared in Bundelkhand in the last decade. 151 ponds in Chittakoot, 859 ponds in Banda, 541 ponds in Hamirpur, 2459 ponds in Jhansi have been destroyed.

Society and government are equally responsible for the disappearance of wetlands. Where the swamp is under the control of the land mafia, where it has dried up due to lack of technical know-how. Separate sections are on hand to explore the swamp. Revenue Department, Forest Department, Panchayat, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Department, Forest Department, Tourism Department, Irrigation Department etc. are responsible for maintenance.

In a village in Kerala, a large modern building has been built into a dry swamp to store goods. On August 17, 2005, the case came before the bench of Justice SB Sinha and Balbir Bhandari of the Supreme Court. An eviction notice was issued against Pokhari Kabja in Dedapi in Bareilly district. Similarly, the Agra High Court took action against the land mafia who occupied Pokhari in September 2019. 22 acres of wetlands, Bindu Sagar.

In the 5th century BC, Ashoka named this source after his father Bindusar. According to the mythology, Mahadev wanted to impart theology to Mother Parvati, he chose the area of Ekama as the best place. Mother Parvati felt thirsty while imparting wisdom, so she “brought out a water-bowl” to quench her thirst. The place where he threw the trident is called Shankar Bampi. Bumpy is found during Punk’s rescue. Chandan Yatra of Lingaraja Mahaprabhu takes place here. However, the government must take more steps to maintain it.

The public must be aware of keeping the pool clean during Shraddha Tharpan. As Markandeya of Puri lives near the pool, people still bathe here. The raw water in Indradyuman pond is getting contaminated. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the “Am Pokhari” program last July. The buried swamp has been reclaimed and made clean. He said that 2,000 large wetlands in 15 urban areas should be renovated. It remains to be seen when that will happen.

The world tourist destination Konark Chandrabhaga Tirth Pushkarni today is found to be littered with garbage. Thousands of devotees come here to take a dip in the holy month of Kartik. Here the water is polluted due to the effect of chemical dyes along with the dispersal of Gajalakshmi Durga Puja sheep.

A reservoir named Jarikhandi was built by the Buddhist king to protect the city, which is now almost buried. Today, artificial floods are observed in big cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar during rainy days due to man-made flooding problems due to burying of drains and reservoirs, blocking of flood streams and construction of buildings. Many mafias are alleged to be involved in it.

Near Mount Abu in Rajasthan, there is a beautiful swamp called Nakidrad. It gives more joy to the mind of the audience. According to the legend, the local king made a condition for his daughter’s marriage that whoever digs the swamp here within one night will marry her to the princess. A lover named Rasia Balam, who lived there, fell in love and built a swamp by digging nails all night; But later the king himself did not keep his promise. Russian Balm is still popularly known as a princess.