Pune River Front Development Project
The city of Pune receives medium rainfall. However, it is located at the foothills of the Sahyadri mountains that form the source of major Indian Peninsular rivers. The mountains received over 6000 mm of rains in the monsoon. The Sahyadri divides this precipitation into two regions, one half being diverted to the Arabian sea and the other draining in to the Bay of Bengal. Most of the rainfall to the East of the Sahyadri is dammed. However, there is enormous land in the free catchment which still reaches the rivers.
Pune city has five rivers, Mula,
Mutha, Ramnadi, Devnadi and Pavana that join up to form the Mula-Mutha. In
short, water flows into Pune from 5 different catchments and there is only one
outlet to that, the Mula-Mutha river. Pune’s topography is saucer shaped, which
leads to water gushing down from different directions from the catchments when
it rains heavily. This water must normally reach the rivers, but the urban
sprawl has now changed the natural contours and flows due to which the water
does not reach the river. This is a major reason for the frequent flooding in
the city.
And the frequency of flooding is on
the rise in Pune over the last few years as urbanisation is leading to more
changes in the land use, destruction of natural habitats and landscapes, and
the obliteration of first and second order streams. At the same time, rainfall
patterns are also changing due to climate change, leading to more rainfall in
shorter time spans. This too has added to increased incidences of flooding in
the city.
The rivers in Pune are monsoon fed
so they are not full of water all the year round, they do have small flows due
to the streams and springs that feed them. However, we have turned them into
perennial rivers that overflow with untreated sewage from the city. This
has given the rivers in Pune the distinction of being the amongst the most
polluted in the country, and exposed the population in the vicinity of rivers
to health hazards. Similarly, this has had a detrimental impact on the river
ecology and the biological diversity around the rivers.
The River Front Development (RFD)
project has been proposed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on the 44
kilometre stretch of the Mula Mutha river to deal with the poor state of the
rivers and to prevent flooding in the city. The Detailed Project Report (DPR)
of the RFD says that the project aims at preventing floods, reviving and
rejuvenating rivers and developing a link between the river and its citizens.
But the reality is very different. The RFD does not look at the river as a
living ecosystem, it looks at it just as an economic resource and carrier of
water.
The RFD project is more about
artificial beautification of the river and not rejuvenation. It involves
channelising and converting the river into canals by constructing walls
(embankments) on the riverbed using cement, tar, paver blocks, rock pitching
and other material. This will involve straightening of the river banks, which
is an ecologically disastrous idea. Making the banks permanent with any such
material, including concrete, is disastrous for the river.
A river is a living system. It has
different water velocity at different points; such as high velocity at the
source, medium in the plains and very slow at the end of its journey. The river
takes different paths, picking up sand, pebbles, silt and organic matter as it
snakes through different landscapes.
The river bank is never a straight
line and never permanent, but is flexible and depends on the river flow and
forms a gradual gradient where water touches and mixes with the soil on its
banks and supports different kinds of plants and animals depending on the
habitat created.
One of the main consequences of
river straightening is that it can become shorter and steeper. We have already
channelised the river - narrowing it further will result in faster flow and
higher water levels when it rains heavily leading to floods. This can also lead
to more erosion of the river banks and increase in siltation and turbidity
affecting all animals living in and near the waters. This could lead to
irreversible damage of the river ecosystem. River straightening can also reduce
the river’s self-purification capacity because of shortened contact of the
water, lesser oxygen mixing, which affects life in the river bed.
The RFD embankments will be
constructed inside the floodlines, which will narrow the cross section of the
river. The Water Resources Department has defined the floodlines for the river
and warned the PMC not to reduce the cross section of the river. Apart from the
embankments, four barrages are planned to be constructed as part of the project.
These will stagnate the already polluted river leading to drop in oxygen
levels. This will further deteriorate the biodiversity and allow invasive
species like hyacinth to cover the water. We have seen this phenomenon in the
Sabarmati RFD project.
The RFD project report mentions that
the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) has given approval to this
project after in depth hydrological study of the rivers. However, the CWPRS has
categorically stated that they have not studied the RFD nor are they the
approving authority. Both these letters are available with the PMC.
Environment clearance obtained for
the RFD has been taken from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority
(SEIAA) but there are several questions arising in the approval.
The DPR of the RFD has no mention of
climate change in any of its sections, nor any consideration of the changing
rainfall. Everyone knows how the rainfall is affecting rivers and floods.
Also, in the entire project, there
is no mention of purifying or cleaning the rivers. How can there be
rejuvenation without clean water, one wonders? This is not about river
rejuvenation at all as there is no consideration for the river ecology anywhere
in the report.
As citizen, we must take the blame
for polluting our rivers, since we are responsible for the sewage. The PMC does
not have the capacity to treat all the sewage generate by the city. As a result,
our rivers are no longer living entities. For us, they are just bridges to be
crossed. The RFD does not address the critical need to change human-river
relations. The project will bring along huge earth moving equipment that will change
the river bed, the banks and the course. Cement, tar, paver blocks and lawns
will change her banks. In all this activity, there is no room for community
participation. Is that what we want for our river? We really need to think
hard.
The project consultant has the
experience of the Sabarmati river model. However, comparing Pune River Front Project
with the Sabarmati model is not at all appropriate as the hydrology and the
topography of both the cities is totally different. For example, the Sabarmati
river originates in the Aravalli mountains, where the rainfall is less than
about 1000 mm. The Sabarmati flows through Ahmedabad and then goes to the Gulf
of Khambat, so the RFD project is not at the source region, but near the mouth
of the river, where it is slow and wide. This is not the case with the Mula-Mutha
that originates from the Sahyadris where the rainfall can be more that 7000 mm.
Pune city is near the source region of the rivers where the rivers are very
fast. Moreover, we have huge dams a few kilometers upstream of the planned
RFD project. The two situations cannot be comparable.
If we want to improve the state of
rivers in Pune, we do not need a beautification project, we need to focus on improving
the health of the rivers first. The rivers have been polluted for many years
now and it is the primary responsibility of the Pune Municipal Corporation to
keep them clean. The people of Solapur to support this demand as they are the
ones who suffer when the polluted Mula Mutha water goes into the Ujani dam
which feeds the city.
Even today, a large portion of Pune
city is not supplied with drinking water. The sewage treatment capacity is
woefully inadequate. When these critical functions in city administration are
dysfunctional, how can the PMC spend 4400 crores on ‘beautification’? Why can’t
they spend this money on making the city tanker-free and its water safe and
secure?
Even if all other problems are taken
care of, thinking of the river as a living entity and thinking of its ecology
is the critical part here. Restoration should first involve cleaning the river
and letting it be on its own, nature has a tremendous capacity to revive
itself. We must prevent filth from entering into the river.
As citizens, we must connect and
involve every Punekar in the care for the river. It is important to spread the
knowledge of river ecology, its life-giving functions, and how it can be truly
rejuvenated. Ecological restoration should be understood by citizens – they are
the beneficiaries who are not involved in any decision making regarding the
river. We are still following the colonial model here. Before the British took
over, the Indians managed their own water.
The restoration and revival should
look at the river as a living entity. Pune citizens would like to see a living
river, with undisturbed banks not cemented ones and clean, free flowing waters
that harbour rich flora and fauna. The River Front Development project does not
meet any of these requirements in its present form.
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