Silent walk for Mula Mutha’s sake

Citizens insist that river rejuvenation is the priority and not beautification

To mark 200 days of the chain fasting for the rivers in Pune, concerned citizens from different parts of Pune are organising a silent walk from Garware college to PMC building. The walk will start at 4pm on September 14th (today) and will end at 5pm.

Citizens who want the decision makers to change the key features of the Pune’s River front development project and also, save Mula Mutha river are most welcome to participate.

A sizable group of citizens from different organisations have come together and are doing all in their capacity to save the Mula Mutha river. They insist that river rejuvenation is the priority and not beautification.

Their key demands include that 100% of the sewage must be treated and recycled, all solid waste and debris must be removed from the river bed, encroachments along the river must be removed and trees along the rivers must be protected.

This group is appealing to all citizens to understand the facts about the river beautification project, fast for a day for the sake of our rivers and also sign a petition. For more details, citizens can visit: www.puneriverrevival.com

Listing out the demerits of the current beautification project, the group says that the size of the river will be reduced drastically with massive constructions on both sides leading to increase in floods, the city will have more heat island effects and severe climate change impacts, rivers will continue to remain protected even after spending Rs 5000 crore, the walls constructed on the sides will disconnect the path to the groundwater recharge and cause depletion of the groundwater table and different species of plants and animals in the rivers will be lost forever.

Preetha Kadhir