The Times of India          15.10.2013

VMC cleans ponds in Vadodara

VADODARA: Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) spent nearly Rs 28 lakh in cleaning ponds in the city. The civic body incurred this expense on eight different ponds in the city.

According to sources, the civic body had taken up the drive to clean the ponds due to thick vegetation growth in the ponds as well as other material that had been dumped into them. The work was also important to ensure that the ponds stored some water and did not spill over during monsoon.

VMC officials said extensive vegetation growth had taken place in several ponds and in case of some their entire surface was covered with vegetation. The cleanliness drive was taken up essentially for surface cleaning of the ponds.

While the civic body had invited expressions of interest for bioremediation of select ponds in the city, it is yet to make a decision regarding this. Experts have suggested in the past that mere surface cleaning and aeration were not solutions in the long run and would only lead to unnecessary expenses. This had prompted the civic body to look for options like bioremediation along with other techniques.