MMRDA now wants Mithi river water to look good too

The river is the suburbs’ main natural water drain and untreated waste is dumped into the 18-km river through 43 side drains. “Currently,the colour of the water is black and there is an overpowering stench. Unlike the earlier pilot project that was only restricted to oxygenating the river water,we will now be focusing on bio-chemical reactions that help turn the river into a more pleasant looking one,” said a senior MMRDA official. “We have decided the project from Vakola Naka to Mahim Creek. Proposals have been invited to bring the river water to a level that may remain non-potable but is at least conducive for the growth of aquatic life.”

The agency also wants to develop a six-km patch along the river as an eco-tourism spot.

Last year,the MMRDA had conducted a pilot project on a 300-metre stretch at Vakola Nala and increased the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. It had rented out an oxygen infusion device called DynamOx from the US-based Environmental Consulting Technology Inc. (ECT),which has been applying this technology effectively in River Rogue in Michigan and other water bodies in the US. The project did show signs of improvement. It had to be,however,shelved as the estimated cost to keep the stretch clean turned out to be a expensive affair at Rs 10 crore a year.

Later,the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay,the consultant agencies involved in the project,also suggested some changes in the earlier projects. “The institutes suggested changes after which we floated fresh tenders,” said MMRDA’s Dilip Kawathkar,Joint Project Director (Public Relations). Till now four companies have approached the agency for executing the project.

Curiously,while the earlier project was executed by the Joint Project Director (Environment) of the MMRDA,it is now being executed by the Transport and Communications arm of the agency.

Even in the MMRDA,a section of officers appreciate the agency’s move to go out of the way for executing the project,while on the other hand it has also been criticised for not focusing on its main agenda of de-silting,widening and constructing a retaining wall along the river. It has already sought an extension of deadline for that project.