Bhima river clean-up may involve sale of treated sewage water to industries, reclamation of land

After planning to rejuvenate Bhima river under the 'Namami Chandrabhaga' project, the state government is looking at funding this ambitious plan through public private partnership (PPP) models, wherein sewage water is treated and supplied to industries instead of being discharged into the river.

Taking a leaf from the development of the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat, it is also planning to reclaim land on the periphery of the Bhima and go in for commercial exploitation of these parcels to raise money for the clean-up.

The Bhima, which is regarded as Maharashtra's holiest river as its banks house the temple town of Pandharpur, sees a huge amount of untreated sewage being discharged into it, with the 14 municipal and local bodies through which it flows, releasing 311.14 MLD liquid waste daily.

Modelled on lines of prime minister Narendra Modi's 'Namami Gange' to rejuvenate India's holiest river, the Chandrabhaga project will also draw on the experience of the clean-up of the Thames in London.

"We are looking at a few financial models," state finance and forests minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told dna, adding that an option under the PPP route would be undertaking tertiary treatment of waste water discharged into the river and supplying it to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) areas for a fee. It will prevent sewage water from flowing into the river. There are nine industrial clusters located on the Bhima's banks.

Treated grey water can also be supplied to farmers to meet their irrigation needs. However, the stumbling block may be the high prices of this water — Rs12 per 1,000 litres.

Pointing to how the development of the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad involved the sale of some reclaimed land for commercial development to fund the project, Mungantiwar said they would examine if land could be similarly reclaimed on the Bhima's banks for commercial purposes.

"However, we will take care to ensure that this will not affect the flow of the river or create encroachments. It (reclamation) will be based on a scientific study," he cautioned. The project will also be funded by the state, Centre and local bodies.

In his budget speech, Mungantiwar had said that they planned to achieve the target of conserving and purifying the river by 2022 and proposed an outlay of Rs20 crore for 2016-17. However, the state has set a fresh and ambitious deadline of 2019.

The proposed clean-up will aim at controlling pollution through industrial and sewerage run-off and the waterfront will be developed, especially in urban and peri-urban areas. The river banks will be beautified, ghats will be constructed for devotees and encroachments will be removed. It will also involve public participation.

The state government will set up a corporation under chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to drive the project and chalk out a master plan. Apart from the river, pollution in tributaries and nallahs leading to it will also be tackled.

The Bhima river originates at the pilgrimage centre of Bhimashankar at Ambegaon in Pune district and flows through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana before joining the Krishna river. As it meanders, it is called 'Chandrabhaga' at Pandharpur due to its crescent shape and lakhs of warkaris (devotees of Pandarpur's Lord Vithoba) take a dip in the waters. Tributaries like Indrayani, Pavana, Ghod, Mula, Mutha, Kamini, Bhogwati, Neera and Bhama join it enroute.

The 14 urban centres like Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Lonavala, Talegaon, Shirur, Alandi and Saswad, which house 55.22 lakh people, discharge 311.14 MLD untreated water into the river while 820.3 MLD run-off is treated.

Apart from water run-off from farms, which contains pesticides and fertilisers, and solid waste, sugar factories and distilleries enroute, which are controlled by powerful politicians, discharge their spent wash into it, causing pollution.

Sand mining in the river, lack of adequate flowing water and growth of water hyacinth also contributes to pollution.

Pandharpur, which has a 10 to 12 lakh floating population, compared to just 1.10 lakh residents, releases 6.5 MLD untreated water into the river, which rises to 10 MLD during the Ashadi and Kartiki waris.