OdishaPlus Bureau
- OBCC signs MoU with Institute of Chemical Technology for cleaning up of five holy ponds along with Bindusagar
- ICT developed technology to be installed for cleaning up of the holy ponds near Lingaraj temple
- The time period for clean up depends upon Covid19 restrictions
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed today to clean up the Bindusagar pond within three months. Bindusagar pond has been in use since the 8th century for daily rites of Lingaraj temple and thus considered holy. The MoU was signed between Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC), on behalf of the Government of Odisha and Institute of Chemical Technology, Indian Oil Odisha Campus, Bhubaneswar.
Er 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.
A state-of-the-art technology known as Hydrodynamic Cavitation will be applied for cleaning up the water of the ponds. Developed by the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, the technology has been successfully implemented in several projects throughout the country.
The pond cleanup 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 bear 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.
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 ponds situated near Lingaraj Temple area.