Dhanbad Municipal Corporation (DMC) on Monday launched the second round of pond clean-up to remove Kali Puja paraphernalia from around 90 water bodies across the district and make them Chhath-ready.

“We had launched the first round of cleaning in all the five circles immediately after Durga Puja on October 9 during which water hyacinth and other garbage were removed from ponds. In the second phase, were are removing the Kali Puja paraphernalia and bamboo structures of idols. After the completion of the second round in two-three days, we will be sprinkling alum and bleaching powder in ponds so that the Chhath devotees can offer arghya in clean water,” municipal commissioner Chandramohan Kashyap told The Telegraph.

Arjun Ram, sanitary inspector of Hirapur area under DMC, said the first phase of clean-up continued from the end of Durga Puja till Diwali.

“In the second phase, we have already cleaned Manjhi Tola Talab in Hirapur. We will begin cleaning the other 16 ponds in our area on a massive scale from tomorrow (Tuesday),” Ram said.

Ritesh Kumar, programme officer of Jharia circle ofDMC, said besides removing trash from ponds, they were also sprinkling bleaching powder in drains and dustbins.

“The biggest challenge was cleaning Raja Talab, spread over 8.46 acres in Jharia. That has already been cleaned. Now, we are preparing to mixing alum in the water and sprinklev bleaching powder,” Kumar added.