Amruta Fadnavis bats for revival of city rivers

The River March citizens group, which aims to revive all four rivers of Mumbai, seems to have found an ally in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's wife Amruta Fadnavis. On Wednesday, she not only visited Dahisar and Poisar rivers but also voiced the need to reclaim the river to its original glory.

Known to take keen interest in social issues, she visited several crucial stretches of the 12 km long Dahisar river, right from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to where it culminates in the Gorai creek, and even discussed various issues that were plaguing the river.

However River March, whose members had met her earlier this month and invited her for a visit, had to jostle with local politicians to properly explain the ground realities and their demands.

While she keenly heard the problems of the Dahisar river, it was the mounds of garbage and filthy condition at Krantinagar, Kandivali that left her visibly shocked and upset. "We did not expect her to walk amidst so much garbage and filth but she did to see the condition and even spoke to the locals and questioned BMC officials as to why the garbage was not being removed," said Gopal Jhaveri, co-founder of River March.