Maharashtra looks to curb Indrayani pollution

A foreign firm, OEC-RVA-PHE, has been asked by the Pune district collector, Vikas Deshmukh, to prepare a pre-feasibility report on ways to control pollution in the Indrayani river.

Deshmukh told reporters on Tuesday that he had a meeting with representatives of the firm along with officials of the irrigation department and the Maharashtra pollution control board (MPCB) to discuss
the matter.

Last year, the district administration and the MPCB prepared an in-depth report on the state of rivers in the Bhima basin, comprising the Mula, Mutha and Indrayani. The report concluded that all three rivers were heavily polluted and blamed the civic bodies of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad for not doing enough to curb it.

As a follow-up to the report, a series of short and long-term measures were suggested. The total budget for cleaning up the Bhima basin was estimated at Rs800 crore.

“The firm had approached us for undertaking the work of cleaning up the Indrayani. At the meeting, we asked them to prepare a pre-feasibility report on the ways to tackle the pollution of the Indrayani. The earlier report regarding the state of rivers in the Bhima basin would work as their base,” said Deshmukh.

The pre-feasibility report will cover the 100-km length of the Indrayani, from its origin in Lonavla till it meets the Bhima at Tulapur. “The firm will be conducting the report free of cost and would be submitting it within the next 15 days. Once the report is submitted, we will take a call on the action plan,” he said.