A cleaning drive underway at Ramnadi near Pashan. (File)Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak will inaugurate a campaign to restore Khatpewadi Lake at 4 pm on June 4. The campaign, ‘Mission Ramnadi Restoration’, will rope in environmental experts and residents of the city to spread awareness about conserving the environment among residents near Ramnadi and begin programmes to clean the river.
“Unfortunately, Ramnadi is unknown to most residents of Pune. The river originates in Varpewadi and flows through Khatpewadi, Bhukum, Bhugaon, Bavdhan, Sutarwadi, Pashan, Someshwarvadi, Baner, Aundh and reaches Mula. Its 18 km stretch is in a pathetic condition,” said Madhav Chandrachud, chairman, Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival, which has been organising environmental programmes for several years.
The campaign has laid out a roadmap to restore the lake. They will rope in schools, colleges and residents of the river basin to create awareness and water literacy, and then undertake cleaning programmes with the help of volunteers and PMC to make the river free of solid waste and sewage.
They will undertake bi-monthly surveys of the river basin and map the mythological, cultural, natural, and historical elements. A ‘health card’ of the Ramnadi river will be published and monitored. This will be followed by conducting awareness sessions on managing domestic waste and sewage among residents, training on foster organic farming in the river stretch and connecting consumers with organic farmers.
Virendra Chitrav, director of the Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival, said, “Earlier, we had declared Mission Ramnadi Restoration on March 14 (International Day of Action For Rivers). After a detailed study of the Ramnadi stretch, today, on the eve of World Environment Day, we are happy to present a detailed action plan of this mission.”
For the past 13 years, Kirloskar Vasundhara has been organising awareness and action-oriented programmes about environment, wildlife, energy, air and water. Kirloskar Oil Engines managing director and CEO R R Deshpande will be the chief guest at the inauguration.
