Pollution grips ponds in Chhatarpur, water crisis deepens

Chhatarpur, in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, has two major ponds, Kishore Sagar and Gwala Magra Pond, right in the middle of the city. Like most ponds in India, this too has become a dumping site and is impacted by evident encroachment, shrinking the lake from its original size.  The plastic waste floats on the surface of the murky, black water of the pond.

Both these lakes were constructed to be utilised as a source of water for the city. Kishore Sagar was constructed by Raja Pratap Singh (1816-54) and was built in the name of Raja Kishore Singh of Panna. Whereas, Gwala Magra Pond was constructed during Ponwar rule, possibly in the 16th century.

In another description, Mahant Bhagwandas, President of Nirmohi Akhara, talking about the pond’s history, and utility says, 

“Saint Parmanand had dug this pond in the year 1603. 25 years ago, travellers going from here to Mahoba used to drink the water of this pond. Religious rituals took place here. But now it is difficult to even stand here for long.”

Quite like the history of the ponds, their utility for water supply is also a thing of the past. 

Only 6 out of 11 ponds remain

The slope of the Chhatarpur district is towards the northwest. Hence, the surface water, during monsoon, went out of the district from the north direction through the Ken and Dhasan rivers. This, inevitably, impacted groundwater level, and water supply in the city historically. Therefore, to stop the flow of rainy surface water, Chandela, Bundela, Parmar and Padihar kings built many interlinked ponds in every village. After which life flourished around the ponds, instead of displacing the population to other districts.  Local journalist Dhiraj Chaturvedi explains, 

“To ensure water conservation in Chhatarpur, 11 ponds were constructed by the rulers here.”

However, now only 6 ponds are left here. Of these, there are 4 big and 2 small ponds. As per Chaturvedi, earlier all these ponds were connected through a small canal (Ona) to recharge each other, and possibly avoid flooding. However, due to encroachment, these canals have also been destroyed.

Dhiraj Chaturvedi has been fighting against the encroachment around Kishore Sagar pond for the last 10 years. Illegal construction is visible around Kishore Sagar and Gwala Magra Pond. Out of these, the foul smell of sewage makes it unbearable to stand beside the Gwala Magra. Ironically, an ‘advanced, and beautiful pond’, is how the pond is described on the Bundelkhand research portal.

People affected by encroachment in ponds

Pappu Ahirwar, a resident of Chattarpur, sees us from afar. To feed his curiosity, he demands introductions and shares his thoughts on the state of ponds in the city.

“Even the people of this city do not care about these ponds. That's why they make them dirty… Now shops have started being built on them."

Ahirwar says that the water crisis in the city worsens during summer. In such a situation, due to contamination of these ponds, water is supplied through tanker water.  Mahant Bhagwandas, says that he has raised his voice many times for the salvation of this pond but nothing happened.

Water shortage

The Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh is infamous for droughts. Chhatarpur is included in the drought-affected districts of the Central Zone. Another local journalist Narendra Singh Parmar says,

“The ponds of Chhatarpur were built to collect the water flowing down from the hilly area. These ponds recharge the groundwater. But now water recharge is also becoming difficult due to increasing encroachment on the ponds.”

According to the master plan of the city, water supply in the city is mainly done from Dhasan River and Khof Pond. A total of 52,873 hectare-meter (ha m) groundwater is used in the district throughout the year. Whereas only in Chhatarpur, the condition of groundwater exploitation is such that the groundwater level here falls in the semi-critical category. The semi-critical category includes cities where 71 per cent to 90 per cent of groundwater is used. In such cities, it is advisable to increase the groundwater level and reduce its exploitation.

How is water supplied?

Chhatarpur is included in the 34 AMRUT cities of Madhya Pradesh. The main objective of this mission is to ensure water supply in cities. Ravi Chaturvedi, Executive Engineer, Urban Administration Department, who is handling this mission in Madhya Pradesh, says,

“Surface water is used for water supply under Amrit Mission.”

An AMRUT project worth Rs 75.44 crore was approved for Chhatarpur. Under this, water is supplied through pipes from Dhasan River, Budha Dam and Khof Pond. Municipal engineer Gokul Prajapati says,

“A plant of 24.6 (MLD) has been built in Pacher Ghat of Dhasan river, a plant of 6 MLD is in Budha Dam, besides this a plant of 4 MLD is in Khof Pond.”

He explains that water from these filter plants is brought to clear water sump wells with a capacity of 23 lakh litres. This water will then be distributed through pipelines. According to him, out of the estimated 44,000 houses in Chhatarpur, the municipality has given connections to 32,000 houses. For this, a 225 km pipeline has been laid.

The administration failed to save the ponds

Ponds play an important role in recharging groundwater. But the local administration seems lax in saving them. A petition was filed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by Dhiraj Chaturvedi and BL Mishra to save the city's Kishore Sagar pond. In 2014, the tribunal gave its verdict in favour of the petitioners.

During this, the tribunal said that the district collector should ensure that no solid waste is left in this pond. NGT had also ordered the collector to remove encroachments from the catchment area. But even after 10 years, these encroachments persist.

The case of contempt of court was filed again by BL Mishra in the year 2021. According to the proceedings received by Ground Report, NGT handed over the implementation of this decision to the local District and Sessions Judge. The ‘action taken report’ was sought from the collector thrice by this court but no reply was given.

Shrinking pond due to encroachment

Referring to its 2014 decision, the NGT acknowledged that the size of the Kishore Sagar pond is shrinking due to encroachment. BL Mishra says,

“The first thing to be done to make the pond encroachment-free was proper demarcation of the pond. Then encroachment had to be removed from this border.”

In 2011, a committee of the then SDO and Tehsildar was formed in this regard. But, a different demarcation has been presented by the administration in the court. While giving the example of the Bhoj wetland case, Dhiraj Chaturvedi says that all the ponds in the state have been encroached upon at the instigation of the administration. Following the same pattern, the administration has pulled out of demarcation and is silent on the issue of sewage.

Chaturvedi says that due to the sewage coming out from the colonies built around the pond, the purity of water has been adversely affected. In a study conducted on this pond in the year 2012, the condition of the water of this pond was described as bad. According to the study, increasing temperature and accumulation of sewage are the main reasons for this.

Due to changing climate and resulting rising temperatures, water is a major issue around the world. This fact is even more worrying for Bundelkhand. In such a situation, the disappearance of ponds from Chhatarpur is a big problem. These are the water resources that recharge the groundwater. In such a situation, the inability of the administration to remove their encroachment further incites future crises.

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