CM help sought over Kalyan park project affecting Waldhuni river

Environmentalist writes to CM to stop project as it encroaches on Waldhuni river, paving the way for flooding during high tide

KALYAN: The city park project in Kalyan has hit a roadblock with an environmental activist from Ambernath writing to the Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to cancel the project as it encroaches on the Waldhuni river.

The project, which is inching ahead, has been opposed by the greens for a long time to conserve the Waldhuni river that falls along this project at Gauripada, Kalyan (W).

Sudhakar Jhore, 54, activist has raised concerns over the adverse effect of the project on the river. He said, “We want a proper survey to be conducted on how the project is affecting the river. The project has led to shrinking of the river banks and this will further lead to flooding in several parts as the water won’t have enough space to seep in. The government should stop this project.

“Instead of undertaking such projects, the civic bodies should first look into the conservation of the water body, which they have failed to do. The river is already subjected to rampant pollution from industries and it has turned into a nullah. There is no plan to clean it by the stakeholders.”

“In June 2015, the urban development department of Maharashtra government, in a notification, asked the local civic bodies to look after the Waldhuni river. However, the civic bodies did not take up any conservation of the river,” added Jhore.

Shashikant Dayma, founder of Waldhuni Biradari NGO, said, “The construction of the park is on the river bed, which will definitely affect the water body. When there is high tide, the water won’t be able to flow with speed and this will lead to flooding in the nearby areas. We are not against the development but it should not be at the stake of killing our rivers.”

Balchandra Nemade, deputy engineer of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, said, “Following the floods in 2005, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority had appointed the Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute to conduct a study. Based on that survey, we have initiated the works as per the permissible limits. The civic body has made sure that all the environmental norms are followed.”

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of the work on retaining wall on the river bank and 20 per cent of the compound wall are completed.

RISHIKESH CHOUDHARY/HT Construction of a wall along Waldhuni river at Gauripada, Kalyan (W).