Mumbai: Poisar river may be waste free by May 31

In something that could be a first, River March — a citizens movement for clean rivers in the city — has demanded a Swacch Krantinagar committee to be set up to plan and execute complete clean up of Kandivali's Poisar River, by May 31.

The decision to request for the formation of the committee — which will not only have locals from Kranti Nagar but members of River March, BMC, and Forest Department officials too — was taken up as the members along with BMC officials completed a 100-hour clean up drive on October 2.

Gopal Jhaveri, founder of River March, explained that the mouth of Poisar, which begins at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), is located in Kranti Nagar, which is a dense slum pocket consisting of both legal and illegal hutments. There are tonnes of waste, including plastic, organic and human waste strewn along the river.

"We began a 28-Sunday clean up in December 2017 and managed to remove 2.75 lakh kilogram of garbage, but there was not much help from BMC. However, this time when we decided to embark on a 100-hour clean up drive on Saturday, BMC was very supportive. But we also realised the need to have more concentrated effort to make the mouth of the river garbage free," he said.

Jhaveri added that this can be only done if there is a proper concentrated effort and long-term planning and hence we have suggested a committee that will meet regularly to keep a track on the clean up work and ensure there is no delay due to administrative reasons. "The challenge for us would be to ensure that the committee is committed towards the goal," he said.

Meanwhile, Vikram Chogle, BJP leader, who is a part of the River March movement, said that they have already discussed the idea with the officer of P/South ward and he was positive. "The committee apart from officials from Solid Waste Management (SWM) and Storm Water Drain (SWD) department will also have local corporators and MLA. Since monsoon is now over, we have time till May 31 to ensure that the entire mouth becomes garbage free and is restored scientifically," he said.

River March already has planned to send a letter to Chief Minister as well as the BMC Commissioner and other officials to allow the committee to be set up jointly.