Ujjain : Crores of public money has been spent in the name of the rejuvenating and cleaning the Rudra Sagar—one of the ancient and sacred ponds—and now the pond area will be used by the top seers, during the Simhastha Fair-2016, for installing their tents.
The question which has crossed many minds is that if the local administration, Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) and the State government knew about the exercise which was doomed to be futile, before the Simhastha Fair, why the public money was wasted. Even the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had participated in the cleaning drive on February 14 that started on January 18 this year and continued for months. Thousands of people from the city, including that of all government departments and social welfare organisations had taken part in the drive and had even donated money for the cause, which crossed the mark of Rs 7 lakh.
In later phase of the cleaning and deepening drive, the UMC and local administration had pitched in with their machineries for deepening the pond. Further worsening the condition, the Mayor in Council (MiC) meeting held on October 10, 2014, approved Rs 6.52 crores for the so-called beautification of the Rudra Sagar, of which till date a single output is yet to be seen. For the Simhastha Fair, Shankaracharya of all four peeths are allotted land for raising tents for their stay. Now JCBs and excavators of the UMC have already dug the area deep during the much-hyped cleaning drive, which stopped during the monsoon.
Now, the land is in a pitiful condition as it has become stagnant pond of sewage water. The UMC had planned for diverting the nullahs underground from the same area, but that project was shelved, too. Recently the Mela administration had planned to change the land piece being given to the Shankarcharya, but after sensing trouble they had to retreat. A delegation of senior officials communicated their decision to them at Nashik Kumbh. Fair Officer Avinash Lavania said, the land piece being given to Shankarcharya will not be changed and the previous land piece they had used in Rudra Sagar will be given to them.
