83-Heritage development by regeneration and development of ponds in Vadodara city

Abstract

Vadodara has rich cultural heritage. It is one of the best planned cities with well planned Infrastructure of roads, Parks, Museums, Zoo etc. It is dotted with number of Ponds. In past history there were 155 Ponds in Vadodara city. These Ponds served the basic needs of the society and provided healthy environment. These ponds are presently in disuse and are turning into health hazard and the environment is degrading. Presently only 30 Ponds exists due to infrastructure development, land use changes and urbanization The existing position of Ponds is not good and appreciable due to number of nuisances encroachment, unauthorized construction of slums, shops building etc. The peripherical area in most of the Ponds is utilized as dumping of garbage, disposal of solid waste organic waste and there by the Pond site is holistically very dirty. Moreover in some Ponds, the disposal of domestic sewage is done which has totally spoiled the water quality. Soluble and non soluble turbidity is found to the great extent as tested in the laboratory. The very bad odor has spoiled the atmosphere. Moreover, on average, the density of Ponds in the Vadodara city is found very much higher as compared to other cities of the state. This also has badly affected the overall environment condition due to poor maintenance activity. This directly attack on the overall health condition of the city inhabitants dwelling surrounding the pond area, The Vadodara is third number important city of Gujarat state and as such, the percentage of health needs to be increased by implementing all side measures. It is therefore necessary to regenerate and develop the water bodies, protect the water quality and provide recreational facilities to enhance the quality of life for the inhabitants in the surrounding area. This paper discusses the tourism development through regeneration and development of Ponds in Vadodara City.