Pune; Leading News Service: While billions of rupees are being spent every year to remove the aquatic plants from the rivers and lakes of the city, the officials of the excreta disposal department were reluctant to submit the information about the amount of water plants removed to the Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar. So, finally, a notice was issued to the Superintending Engineer of this department and information was sought. However, the notice has not yet been answered and on the other hand, while the tender for this work ends on March 30, it has come to light that almost 40 percent of the work is still left.
A large amount of waterfowl grows in the Mula-Mutha river flowing through the city of Pune. Similarly, Katraj Lake, Pashan Lake, Jambhulwadi Lake in the city also have aquatic plants. 50 lakhs for waterfowl extraction from rivers and Rs.50 lakhs for lake waterfowl harvesting, a tender of Rs.1 crore is floated every year. Non-removal of aquatic plants not only poses a threat to the environment, but residents living in the vicinity of rivers and lakes have to bear the stench. Mosquitoes cause a lot of trouble.
Every Monday, the municipal commissioner reviews the maintenance and repair work of the sewerage department. Despite the availability of provisions for waterfowl removal, it was also observed that there are waterfowls in the Pashan and Jambhulwadi ponds and in the riverbed. Therefore, the commissioner asked the Chief Superintendent Engineer Santosh Tandale for the report of how much watercress was removed. Action was ordered against them for not giving this report.
According to Dr. Additional Commissioner. Kunal Khemnar issued a notice to Tandale and threatened to reply within two days otherwise action will be taken as per Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act. However, Tandale has not responded to the notice. Dr. Khemnar said, “A notice has been issued to Tandale for not removing the jalparni and not submitting its report. Further action will be taken against them if they do not reply within the time limit.’
Tandale said, ‘There has been no reply to the notice, but a meeting was held after receiving the notice. Information was given in it. Also, all water plants will be removed by March 10. So far, 60 percent of water leaves have been removed. The term of this tender is till March 30, and the entire work will be done.
Waterfowl can be seen drifting away
Once the aquatic plants have grown in the river, they must be removed from where they are. But because the river bed is deep, there is no place for the spider machine to stop, the contractors remove water leaves only at certain places. The rest of the watershed is awaited. Therefore, if a water leaf gets stuck in a place, new leaves sprout immediately, but the removal of the water leaf is neglected.