An initiative undertaken to clean up the Godavari river has received a good response from NGOs and people alike. Presently, the river is dry.
MNS corporator and leader of the House in the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) Surekha Bhosale, whose ward is along the river, took the initiative after complaints from residents on the rise in water level during the monsoon and it even entering their homes, besides the foul smell. Both problems were due to deposition of slush in the river.
"The slush was the major concern. It's never been extracted before. The gates below the Holkar bridge that were earlier used to regulate the water flow in the river from upstream have been jammed due to this slush. With the river going dry, this became evident, so we decided to clean it up," said Bhosale.
She added that the slush had also disturbed the natural ecosystem of the river. "Earlier, there used to be a lot of fish in the river at Gharpure ghat; now, they are missing. Hence this project."
The NMC okayed the project and also gave some machinery — pokland, dumpers, JCBs and trucks, and men to operate all of this. The project was started on May 15 in the presence of the commissioner and mayor of NMC.
Sixteen dumpers worth of slush was extracted. One gate below the bridge has now become open and visible.
"This is a people's project. We had appealed to them that they should contribute; many NGOs too came forward. The response has been good. River Godavari is, after all, a sensitive issue for the citizens; they all want her to breathe freely," said Sachin Bhosale, project co-ordinator.
