The Times of India 13.11.2013
NMC removes 40 tonnes of garbage from Godavari
NASHIK: The Panchavati division of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) carried out a cleanliness drive at Ramkund, Laxmankund and Pataleshwar Kund in the Godavari river on Tuesday, extracting 40 tonnes of material used in rituals and garbage.
The exercise was conducted to cleanse the river of all waste after three consecutive festivals - the Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Chhat Puja.
The drive began at 1pm and continued till late evening, at the three locations where used puja material and other waste are generally thrown.
Twenty-five employees from the health department and twenty-five employees of the public works department began the cleaning with instructions of health officer Sachin Hiray and deputy engineer C B Aher, who were present during the drive. Three tractors, a truck, two earth-movers and a jet pressure machine were used to clean the river and the riverbed.
"We emptied the water of Ramkund, Laxmankund and Pataleshwar kund and then sprinkled bleaching powder on the steps to take off the moss. We removed all the moss using jet pressure machines," said sanitary inspector of Panchavati division, Sanjay Gosavi. "Sludge, idols, cloth pieces, photo frames, glass pieces, ashes (of the dead) and clay pots were drawn from the dry river bed with the help of earth-movers," he said. The steps at these three ghats were then manually cleaned with brushes by the NMC employees.
"We will fill these three kunds with water from the Gandhi Talav. What we extracted was accumulated over three back-to-back festivals. Since the rains continued even during Navratri and Chhat Puja followed immediately after, we had to carry out this drive now," said Gosavi.
"A couple of nirmalya kalash were installed here, but people used to throw matchsticks and cigarette butts into these, which burnt the kalash, made of plastic. We have now installed two more kalash and hope people use them rightly," said Panchavati divisional officer A P Wagh.
