The Hindu : Front Page : Eco-City programme nears completion

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Monday, Jan 14, 2008
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Eco-City programme nears completion

NEW DELHI: The first phase of Eco-City programme is in the advanced stage of completion at the close of the 10th Five Year Plan.

It covers six towns — Kottayam, Tirupati, Ujjain, Puri, Thanjavur and Vrindavan — and is aimed at improving the existing environment and changing those aspects that are causing environment damage.

In Kottayam, rejuvenation of the Mundar river and the renovation of the Kacherikadavu-Boat Jetty Canal have been taken up to overcome severe pollution problem.

In Ujjain, improvement of the area around Mahakal Temple and cleaning by excavation and embankment of the Rudra Sagar Lake has been taken up. The Rudra Sagar Lake was highly silted and polluted with sewage.

In addition, traffic and transportation, road improvement, drainage, laying of the water supply line for the Rudra Sagar Lake, underground electric cabling and plantation as well as landscaping activities are still on.

The Eco-city Programme in Vrindavan is aimed at improving the core-zone of the city and the 2 km stretch from Kaliadaha Ghat to Kesi Ghat on ‘Parikrama Path’ and Banke Bihari Temple surroundings. This also includes improvement around the Rangnath Temple. The Vrindavan Municipality has identified funding agencies to meet the financial requirements.

The core area of the town around the Govinda Raja Swami Temple has been improved in Tirupati. The storm water drains in the Northern, Southern and Western sides of the temple, connecting water pipeline from Konneru to Narshimha Tirtha, have been covered.

In Puri, improving the drinking water at the Lion’s gate, and public toilet near ‘Narendra tank’ and constructing cement concrete drains with cover slabs along the roads around the Lord Jagannath Temple have been the main concerns, along with the renovation of three of the religious ponds.

In Thanjavur, the renovation of old tanks have been taken up. Various measures have been taken to protect the usable aquifers from further degradation.

The Central Pollution Control Board undertook the programme to bring a visible change in the environmental improvement schemes in these towns on a 50:50 sharing basis, according to a Union Environment and Forests Ministry statement.

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