Profiling important waterbodies of Odisha

Name:Shiv Talab, Khairmal

 Type:Pond, Size: Approx Half Acre, Location:Khairmal, Sonepur

Brief History:  

The pond has a unique story, it came along with the temple. Local says that around 70 years, a Shiva Linga appeared in the ground. On seeing the Linga, local villagers decided that they want to make a Shiva Temple. For this they collected money and made the Shiva Temple. As the Temple require lot of poojas and people will gather their. So the local opened a Pond. 

Socio-religious significance:

Makar Sankrati, Use for bathing, drinking water, no ground water, no canel water

The pond and temple had significance  role during the festival of Makar Sankranti. Here a huge amount of people around the place gather to celebrate the auspicious event. This pond for a lot of time helped as a source of drinking water as the ground water was very low as well as the canals were also very far. This ponds were a source of meeting among the villages and it hold a good reputation for planning and development of the village

Economic significance:  

There are a few shops around the temple which fill their livelihood from the worship of the temple.

What is the current condition? Any efforts to clean up or rejuvenate the waterbody?

At present the pond is having very bad condition. It has turned out to be a dump yard and is not being used properly. Before two years there was an initiative to revive the development of the pond. But this was unfortunately stopped for some reasons unknown. 

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