Mutha stream purified via natural vegetation

Volunteers claim the oxygen levels have risen and will now clean up another stream

In a small but valuable contribution towards a cleaner river, few volunteers from the city have been successful in purifying a live stream entering Mutha River near Vitthalwadi.

The initiative taken up by these volunteers has ensured that clean water from the stream enters the river and also flourishes the ponds and plants on its way. The success has further motivated these volunteers to take up the cleaning of another stream, about 50 metres from the existing stream.

“Local volunteers adopted the stretch as a part of cleanliness drive for the past two years. However, last year it was found that stretch was relatively clean and it was decided that the conservation work should to be taken forward,” said Prasanna Pachwadkar, a member of Jeevitnadi, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working for the cause of river cleanup.

Pachwadkar also said it was found that the stream was getting polluted due to leakages from a drainage tank located near the stream flow. “Ponds were also getting polluted and other contaminants degraded the quality of water. The task of separating the sewage water and the stream was taken through natural methods like demarcation by stones and planting natural vegetation,” he added.

He further said that once the stream was cleaned of pollution, sewage water collected in ponds was also treated in a similar fashion. “Experts working in providing natural solutions to solve the issue were called,” Pachwadkar said.

Prasanna Jogdeo and Pooja Tendulkar provided a helping hand to the initiative. “Structural changes were needed to be made for water retention and to increase the water holding capacity of plants to undergo a biological process,” Jogdeo said.

Jogdeo added that the flow needed to be channelised as plants would absorb the micro-organisms. “Treating the water at source is the key factor in the success of this process,” he said, adding that wetland plants like sedges (nagarmotha), asclepias (halad kunku), colocasia (aloo) and aquatic plants like duckweed and azolla were planted along the stream.

“In the last few months, we succeeded in improving the quality of water. Dissolved oxygen levels have increased to 4.5 milligrams per litre (mg/l) from zero, that was recorded before the work began,” Jogdeo told Mirror.

He added that seven mg/l of dissolved oxygen is the ideal level for fish and other aquatic life.“This is also a natural way without spending a lot of money and recurring maintenance costs. It also supports the flora, fauna while encouraging the biodiversity like insects and birds in the area,” Jogdeo said.

Pachwadkar added that similar work would be undertaken in coming months on another live stream beside the work done.

Shaileja Deshpande, director of Jeevitnadi, said that for any river to be healthy it is important for its streams to be clean. “The activity shows how streams and springs need to be cleaned and water entering the river needs to be treated at the source,” she said, adding that such activity can be replicated in other parts of the city as well.