The 47-km-long Dravyavati River had been reduced into a drain during monsoon, thanks to years of negligence, haphazard urbanisation and unchecked encroachment.
A 7,500-strong army of labourers, backed by hundreds of earth movers, is waging a war against time to revive a river which predates the settlement of the Rajasthan state capital more than 300 years ago.
The 47-km-long Dravyavati River had been reduced into a drain during monsoon, thanks to years of negligence, haphazard urbanisation and unchecked encroachment. Under the roughly Rs 1,600-crore revival project, 170 million litres of clean water would be pumped into the river every day through five sewerage plants that have been set up along the riverbank.
The hope is, the river would be in flow before the model code of conduct comes into effect for the state assembly elections slated for December, and provide the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government a timely raft to win the race.
Two years back, when the Chief Minister took up the flagship project that entails a world-class riverfront — to parallel the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat's Ahmedabad — she expected to dedicate it to the people before the code of conduct kicked in. The end of this month will tell if the government can inaugurate the project before the election code, as planned.
The river, coursing through the heart of the city from the foothills of Nahargarh in the north into the Dhondh River to the south, is a mega construction site at this time. Its resuscitation, being executed by the Jaipur Development Authority, was entrusted to a consortium of Tata Projects Limited (TPL) and Shanghai Urban Construction Group (SUCG) in August 2016.
The contract award was the culmination of years of efforts by environmentalists and activists, which led to a high court order directing the state to rejuvenate Dravyavati.
"It was in the backdrop of a high court order and studies done by experts from the Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur, that the project was mapped, and we proceeded with minor changes in alignment," said Collin Batchelor, project director, TPL-SUCG.
"It has been designed to account for flooding that may occur once in a hundred years," he said.
Other than the sewerage treatment units installed along the river to filter the sludge and pump clean water, plans are afoot to turn the Dravyavati riverfront into a tourist and recreational centre. Three theme parks are being developed along its trajectory. A cycling track and walkway on either side of the riverfront will offer fitness enthusiasts a great track to sweat it out in the heart of the city.
The mega project has not been without its share of contentious decisions. Widening the river was one of them, since it threatened to dislodge several families and necessitated acquisition of land from different stakeholders. So the breadth of the river varies at different points. When it emerges from Jaisalya village on the slopes of Amber hills, the river is a mere 150 feet wide for 15 kilometres. For the next 20 kilometres, it opens up to 210 feet, and the rest of the stretch is 450 feet wide.
Once the river width was mapped, the Jaipur Development Authority's demolition squad started razing illegal structures. Most settlements in the river's catchment area belonged to squatters and had to be removed in the absence of any court reprieve, said officials. The task took close to 18 months, while
the consortium went about its work.
There were administrative hurdles as well, considering land had to be required from half a dozen state departments that had a stake in the river stretch passing through the city. The jurisdiction issues had to be resolved at ministerial level. Permission had also to be sought from the Army to operate on nearly 4 kilometre of the stretch passing through the army area.
Then, towards its completion, a heavy monsoon threatened to disrupt the project.
Now that the major obstacles have been crossed, the river in its new avatar would have clean water flowing between its banks all year long.
OUTRAGE OVER CEMENTED FRONT
- Many civic bodies have expressed reservations over cementing the river canal. They fear it would prevent water from seeping into the earth and kill the aquifers that help recharge the underground water table. "The stretch passing from urban areas had to be cemented to allow rapid flow of storm water. But porous patches have been left open between the cemented parts to allow proper seepage," an official told DNA.
- According to the officials, efforts have also been made to conserve full-grown trees along the project trajectory. Efforts have also been made to conserve the existing ecology at the other two parks.
RAJE'S PET PROJECT
47.5 km, Dravyavati river's length, from Nahargarh Hills in north Jaipur to Dhond River in south
Rs, 1,676.93 crore, total cost of the project
Rs 1,470.85 cr, sum for which the contract has been awarded
Rs 208.08 cr, operational and maintenance cost for 10 years
Contractor: Consortium of M/s Tata Projects Limited-SUCG
Rs 1,100 crore worth of work completed by August this year
Sewerage treatment
5, treatment plants established to pump 170 mld water; largest near Sanganer which is equal to three football fields; it can treat 100 mld wastewater a day
84 km sewer lines need to be laid
Riverfront
16,000 trees to be planted along 47-km trajectory of the river
1 cycling track, 1 walkway
3 theme parks spread over 35,000-40,000 sq m, one of them, at Bambala, as a botanical garden
Rs 45 crore, riverfront corridor to have high-speed Wi-Fi
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Dravyavati River")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}