Citizens' 'emotional connect' helps river get a new life

A citizens' initiative to clean a river in Maharashtra's Akola district has set an example of how an 'emotional connect' can help in the revival of water bodies reeling under pollution.

The result: Akola's Morna river, which was a filthy sight of weeds and other waste till sometime back, is now clean and brimming with water following monsoon rains, the district collector said.

The 173-km-long Morna river, a major tributary of Purna river (tributary of Tapti), is the main water source for Akola district, located around 240 km from here.

"Around eight km of Morna river passes through Akola city and it was covered with weeds, plastic and solid waste garbage. There are 32 nullahs (drains) through which the city's liquid waste is drained into the river," Akola's collector AstikKumar Pandey told PTI.

The cleaning of the river was taken up every Saturday from January 13 this year for three months. Print and video advertisements of the campaign were put up on social media and other agencies, he said.

The Akola Municipal Corporation provided the basic facilities and equipment for cleaning the river.

Pandey recalled that around 8,000 people had gathered at the riveron January 13 and three km of its stretch was cleaned that day itself.

"The participation of citizens was motivating for others who joined in later," he said, adding that around 40,000 people lent a helping hand to the initiative.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken note of the campaign in his 'Mann ki Baat' address, said Pandey, who is the collector of Akola since April last year.

He informed that the people's movement had also made it to the Golden Book of World Records, an international book of records, for largest public participation in river cleaning and the largest women-driven initiative.

Terming the experience as a "miracle", Pandey said, "A river which was almost forgotten is now the most talked-about in the area."

He described it as a "CPG" model - representing the co-ordination between citizens, private donors and the government.

Explaining the concept, he said the idea has to be convincing and a lot of brain-storming has to be done for it, as without citizens' cooperation nothing can be achieved.

"The aim of the campaign was to give the river's ownership to citizens so that there is an emotional connect with the river. The citizens will come forward to take the ownership if they are convinced of the idea," he said.

He said private donors, like businessmen and industrialists, then pitch-in with financial support to people's projects.

"Lastly, the government comes into picture to support the programme," said Pandey, who had earlier served as chief executive officer of Jalgaon Zilla Parishad.

The key point of the Akola model of river rejuvenation is the "honesty, commitment of the local administration towards the idea and credibility in the public eye".

He said in another initiative, the 23-km-long Kamal Ganga river in the district was also rejuvenated by digging and widening work, as part of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project.

For highway projects, minor minerals are required and NHAI contractors have to pay royalty to the state government.

A Government Resolution was issued in November last year saying that if NHAI contractors create water storage along their road construction projects, they will not be required to pay royalty for the minor minerals.

Pandey said contractors were persuaded to take up widening and deepening of 10-km stretch of the Kamal Ganga river in Murtizapur taluka where it had almost disappeared.

The soil removed from the water body was put on both sides of the river bed. Due to this, the effective depth of the river is now 25 to 30 feet, said the 2011 batch IAS officer.

(PTI)