E-Paper
Waldhuni clean-up stops flooding of homes
The polluted Waldhuni river is finally being cleaned.
The polluted Waldhuni river is finally being cleaned.
Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) said it has been regularly cleaning the river to reduce flooding in low-lying areas. “Cleaning work began at Vadol gaon in Ulhasnagar- Ambernath boundary and it will continue for few more days,” said Vinod Kene, chief sanitary inspector, UMC.
The civic body will cover at least 5-7 kms of the Waldhuni river in the cleanliness drive, said officials.
The cleaning will be carried out from Vadolgaon – CHM college- Ulhasnagar station- Karothia nagar- Meenatai Thackeray garden in Ulhasnagar said the UMC officials.
“With regular cleaning, we have managed to make the river wider and also help reduce flooding in areas such as Vadolgaon, Karothia Nagar and other places. These places were flooded this year in the heavy rainfall. In the past two years, there was no flooding,” added Kene.
Waldhuni river flows into the Ulhas river in Kalyan. The Ulhas river provides drinking water to residents of Kalyan and Ulhasnagar.
Waldhuni and Ulhas rivers are polluted as waste is dumped into it and untreated effluents discharged in it.
The Waldhuni river in Thane district flows through Ambernath, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan region.
UMC has been cleaning the river since 2017. It has made special allocation of ₹3 crore for cleaning the Waldhuni river and other drains in the city.
“Earlier, water from the river used to enter our houses during heavy rain. For the past three years, the situation has changed. This year, river water entered our houses because of severe flooding across the state,” said Shantatai Waghmare, 39, a resident of Vadolgaon, Ulhasnagar.
Silt from the river is removed and transported to the dumping ground at Gaikwadpada in Ulhasnagar 5.
Sashikant Dayma, founder of NGO Waldhuni Biradari, said: “The stink from Waldhuni river has decreased to some extent. When officials clean the river thrice a year, residents are careful to not dump trash into the river.”
