Ajmer: The deteriorating condition of Ana Sagar Lake has triggered a political confrontation in Ajmer, with Congress calling for an Ajmer bandh on July 23 and the BJP launching a three-day clean-up drive.Residents living near the lake complained of a foul smell, dead fish and mosquitoes, saying the stench has made it difficult to keep doors and windows open. Lokesh Agarwal, a resident of Sukh Sagar Vihar, claimed his daughter developed an allergy because of the foul smell.Congress, which recently staged a protest and moved court over the issue, blamed the district administration for the lake’s condition. City Congress president Rajkumar Jaipal alleged that pumping out water before the monsoon and inflow from drains led to the present situation. He said the party called for an Ajmer bandh on July 23 and was reaching out to market associations for support.Responding to the protest, BJP city president Ramesh Soni appealed against the bandh, saying it would inconvenience the public. He announced a three-day clean-up drive at the lake involving BJP workers, MLAs Vasudev Devnani and Anita Bhadel, and NGOs. Soni also said a Rs 20-crore project was prepared to stop drain water from flowing into the lake.“It started when the district administration started pumping out water from the lake before the rains, and now the sewerage from nallahs made this lake stink,” said Manohar Meena, a resident of Vaishali Nagar.Ajmer Municipal Corporation superintendent engineer Manohar Songara said silt was being removed from the lake and transported to a dumping site.
