Dry spell turns into opportunity: Sabarmati River cleaning drive makes progress

Almost 13 years after the Sabarmati Riverfront was inaugurated by the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2012, the 11.5 km-long stretch of the riverfront's Phase 1, stretching from Vasna Barrage till Torrent power house, is undergoing cleaning for the second time, however, first time on such a large scale with public participation.
Highlighting the significance of the project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hosted three heads of state on the Sabarmati Riverfront, Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2014, Japanese premier Late Shinzo Abe in 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018.
With other cities, including Pune and more recently Delhi planning to have their own riverfronts, even as Sabarmati which boasts to be the first riverfront in the country, the challenges concerning its maintenance and upkeep continue to pose a Herculean task before the administration. The stagnant riverfront will be expanded from 11.5 km to 38 km with the project being implemented in six phases. The Sabarmati Riverfront from Vasna Barrage till Chiloda Bridge near the thermal power plant in Gandhinagar, is set to run through districts of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
Why this cleaning
Due to pre-monsoon repair and maintenance work of gates at the Vasna Barrage, the Sabarmati Riverfront is running dry from May 12 till June 5. The barrage has around 30 gates and usually goes into pre-monsoon repair work annually.
Also, as the work of constructing an earthen ramp in the upstream of Vasna Barrage is to be undertaken, the Sabarmati river is required to be completely emptied.
Utilising the moment as an 'opportunity', the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Ltd (SRFDCL) — the city corporation's special purpose vehicle (SPV) launched in 1997 to execute the project — along with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has launched a joint cleaning campaign.
Sharing details, SRFDCL Chairman I P Gautam told The Indian Express, 'We are taking advantage of the Irrigation Department's maintenance and repair work of Vasna Barrage gates till June 5.'
Adding to this, Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said, 'Generally, we do not get any specific occasion to clean the river but with the ongoing repair and maintenance work, we found an opportunity.'
'The cleaning process will also help us to know about the problems, for instance (we can find) the stretch where the garbage is highest… this in turn would help us to devise enforcement activities,' added Pani. This, however, will be assessed at the end of the cleaning exercise.
After how many years
The exercise is undertaken after six years. The last time Sabarmati River along the riverfront was cleaned was in 2019. However, the exercise at that time went on for four to five days and that didn't involve public participation on such a large scale, the Municipal Commissioner said.
How much garbage cleaned
Within two days, on May 15 and 16, a total of 118 metric tons of garbage was removed. A massive 76 tons was removed on the first day itself when the cleaning campaign was launched from the ghat behind Gandhi Ashram — the stretch between Dadhichi Bridge and Subhash Bridge — by Ahmedabad Mayor Pratibha Jain accompanied by Standing Committee Chairman Devang Dani, SRFDCL Chairman I P Gautam, Municipal Commissioner Pani along with MLAs, corporators and other officials of AMC-SRFDCL.
At 21 metric tons, plastic constituted the largest portion of the huge garbage pile. Additionally, 12 metric tons of wood and 7 metric tons of cloth was also removed from the river bed which is a mix of soil in some stretches and stones in others. Remaining 78 metric tons constituted other materials, including glass and used puja material among other things. Nearly 15 heavy vehicles such as JCBs, trucks, tractors, and earth removers were used during two days of cleaning exercise to remove the garbage.
Issues faced
Sharing the issues faced during the exercise, the AMC officials revealed that the drainage system was not plugged majorly at two locations.
'Under Phase I, the Ranip drainage system meeting the Sabarmati Riverfront at Dandi Bridge was not plugged. In the ongoing phase 2, the drainage system at Dafnala was not plugged completely… much time was lost in getting the Army's permission as the stretch falls under the cantonment area. This led to a lot of garbage running into the river,' a senior AMC official said.
Further, a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of 50-60 MLD is operational near Dandi Bridge and officials claim that the drainage system along the eastern bank is plugged too.
Phase-2 involves extending the existing 11.5 kilometers of Riverfront East and West by 5.8 kms and 5.2 kms, respectively, up to the Indira bridge.
Why public participation
On the first day of the cleaning, a huge temple flag was seen being removed from the Sabarmati River.
Looking at peoples' apathy towards the cleanliness of rivers, public participation was intentionally planned . 'People were roped in, so they can see for themselves what kind of waste is coming out of the river. Despite awareness campaigns people are throwing stuff like clothes and other material into it,' Municipal Commissioner Pani told The Indian Express. Pani informed at least 13000 persons from educational institutions, schools, colleges, universities, religious institutions, social institutions, NGOs and industrial groups will participated in the Sabarmati River Cleanliness Campaign on the first two days.
As per the SRFDCL statement, on the first day over 8,998 persons participated in the campaign and 3,789 persons on the second day.With public participation, the 11-km long bank of the Sabarmati Riverfront will be cleaned in phases. Also, in the public participation, individuals who frequently use the riverfront such as cyclists, morning walkers, jiggers among others are also being roped in for cleaning.
Planning for cleaning
AMC officials stated that in the initial phase, the civic body decided to take up the cleanliness drive of the river bed 'very carefully as the river bed dries up completely'.
A field assessment of the bed was undertaken to also ensure safety of the citizens joining the drive.Institutes like Anand Agricultural University and Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) were consulted to know the nature of the river before taking up the cleanliness drive, said the officials.
The stench
Owing to the drying up of the river, a strong stench emanated from the river which the officials said is a 'natural process'. 'The stench started on the first day. When you open up the water body because of the sunlight, whatever elements are present get decomposed. It always causes a stench. The process of decomposition is a natural process that causes some stench that is the reason here too. We had consulted scientifically on that aspect as well,' Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said.

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