Drive to clean water hyacinth from Godavari river launched

NASHIK: The municipal body has started removing water hyacinth from the Godavari river since Tuesday.
So far, over 25 tonnes of the weed has been removed.
The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) officials said that they have undertaken a cleaning drive in the stretch that runs from Ahilyabai Holkar bridge all the way to Anandvalli.
An official said, “We have deployed a trash skimmer to remove the water hyacinth. The exercise will continue till it is removed from all stretches of river passing through the city.”
Around nine tonnes of the water hyacinth is removed from the river daily. NMC is expecting the work to continue for a few days more.
The water hyacinth over the river is one of the major issues faced by the city. NMC has previously removed hyacinth on multiple occasions but it keeps growing back, an official said.
Rajesh Pandit, an environmentalist, said, “The growth is created when sewage water enters and mixes with the river. The basic solution to the issue is to stop releasing sewage into the river.”
NMC officials said that they have planned the Namami Goda project at the cost of Rs1,800 crore to make the river pollution free.
There are several points along the stretch from where effluents enter the river, polluting it and increasing the rate at which the hyacinth grows.
The administration has recently handed out a work order to a private consultant, who will now prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR). This will take around a year.
This DPR will include repairs, re-modification and plans to widen 67 nullahs and three tributaries linked to the river. “We will immediately submit the DPR of the Namami Goda project to the centre for its approval once it is prepared,” an NMC official told TOI.
“Our plan is to implement it before the next Kumbh Mela takes place in the city in 2027,” the official added.