The Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC) has failed to control the growth of water hyacinth in the Pavana, Mula and Indrayani rivers and are now waiting for the rains to ‘wash out’ the hyacinth, alleges social activist Raju Salve.
Salve said,“The contract for the removal of hyacinth had ended in the first week of May and the hyacinth menace has remained as it is. Now, the corporation is waiting for the rains to wash out the hyacinth and hence, are choosing to not remove it.” We have demanded PCMC to blacklist the contractor who failed to remove the hyacinth, added Salve.
PCMC officials said that they had alloted a contract to remove hyacinth to Sai Fright, a private agency, in May 2017. They were paid Rs 4.5 lakh to clean the Pavana river, Rs 4.5 lakh to clean the Mula river and Rs 9 lakh to clean Indrayani river for one year.
On Friday, Sanjog Waghere Patil, Nationalist Congress Party city president, gifteda water hyacinth bouquet to Shravan Hardikar, PCMC municipal commissioner as a protest against inability of the the civic body in dealing with the water hyacinth problem.
According to residents, the major reason behind the sudden increase in mosquitoes in the region is the rapid spread of water hyacinth in water bodies, especially in Sangvi, Dapodi and Bopodi and Mamtanagar. Mosquito breeding is directly proportional to the growth of water hyacinth in water bodies, claimed a resident, on condition of anonymity.
Manoj Lonkar, assistant commissioner of PCMC, said,“With Sai Fright’s contract ending, we have appointed private labours to weed out the hyacinth. As far asmosquitoes are concerned, we have started regular fumigation in all parts of the city.”
Twelve kilometres of Pavana river goes through the municipal limits, while Mula river flows along the southern boundary of the municipal limits, covering a 9km stretch. Indrayani river flows along the northern boundary of PCMC and covers a 14km stretch.