Holding ponds have become health hazards, complain residents

Holding ponds have become health hazards, complain residents There are nine holding ponds in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation area which are connected to storm water drainage system and Thane Creek. These artificial ponds were developed by City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDC) around thirty years back. The water in the holding pond flows in and out during high and low tides. The City Development Plan of NMMC states that, "In an analysis of samples from the holding ponds the water quality is found to be polluted and the water is not found fit for fishing and other entertainment activities. The pollution is caused due to the discharge of untreated and partially treated effluents from industries of NMMC and other municipal corporations located around the coast of Thane Creek. Precaution is taken to keep the drawing free from solid waste to avoid flooding of drains." However, residents have a different story to tell. Corporator of sector 14 and resident of sector 23 in Koper Khairane Devidas Hande Patil informs, "The holding pond of Sector-14 has become a health hazard for residents of sectors 11, 12 and 14. Filled with nine feet of sludge and stinking awfully bad, it provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. During heavy rainfall there is the danger of its water overflowing into residential areas". City engineer Mohan Dagaonkar informs, "We are developing a mechanism for management of holding ponds. These ponds have a huge potential of being major recreational places and they also contribute in preventing floods. But mangroves have started growing in holding ponds, leading to their silting and further reducing their capacity to hold water. Due to this reason holding ponds are not serving the purpose of their construction. The silting of holding ponds may lead to flooding during rains and High tides. So permission from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is to be taken for the cleaning of holding ponds. NMMC has approached MoEF to resolve this issue". "Presently we have received the nod from the general body of NMMC for taking up the work of de-silting the holding pond of sector 8, Vashi which is in similar condition," he adds.