Efforts on to revive Kanpur's iconic Kachhua Taalaab: Officials
Efforts are underway to revive and rejuvenate the iconic Kachhua Taalaab (tortoise pond) in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur, which is home to tortoises believed to be older than 100 years, according to senior government officials.
The pond, which is part of an old Shiva Temple in the Panki area, is itself believed to be 350 years old and is counted among the oldest and most important water bodies of the industrial town located on banks of the Ganga, the officials said.
“It is also an important water body for the consecration and breeding of tortoises. It was home to thousands of small and large tortoises but because of the loss of the water body and other issues, the number of tortoises has gone down, with many of them dying because of water scarcity, pollution etc,” Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar said.
In order to rejuvenate this historic water body and to facilitate the breeding of tortoises, the Uttar Pradesh government had sanctioned a project worth Rs 2 crore to the municipal corporation in 2017.
From 2017 to 2020, a few works were taken up by the corporation worth Rs 1.7 crore but the desired objectives were not met and the water body was not fully rejuvenated, the senior IAS officer said.
Shekhar said public representatives, animal lovers and other citizens had also brought the issue to the notice of the administration. Following this, he said, he discussed the matter once again with the corporation and the local development authorities to rejuvenate the pond, which is filled with water naturally throughout the year.
“Following the discussions, the Nagar Nigam has been sanctioned a project of Rs 70 lakh to complete the pending works. The work has started in the last few days and it will be completed in the next three months,” the commissioner said.
He said the ongoing works include increasing the depth of the pond by two metres, lighting the area, setting up public toilets near the site and fixing of tiles, among others.
During an on-site review of the ongoing works, the commissioner asked the officials concerned to approach tortoise congregation experts and to assess the number of tortoises currently present in the pond.
He directed the officials to take the help of experts in increasing the number of tortoises in the coming days with a better conservation strategy and called for plantation of trees along the ponds boundary.
“While the exact number of tortoises present in the pond is being ascertained, it is estimated that over a dozen live in it at present. Some of them are more than 100 years old. Efforts are underway to rejuvenate the iconic pond in a manner that more tortoises could be bred here in future,” Shekhar told
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