Aurangabad, Feb 20:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), with the participation of religious priests, responsible citizens, organisations and officials cleaned up the Kham River, today. From the portion of the river stretched between Garampani bridge and ahead, the AMC claimed of collecting 12 tones of garbage waste and planting 1,000 saplings in the river bed.
As reported earlier, the civic administration had taken a vow to clean the river. The drive attracting people's participation is implemented every Saturday. Under the guidance of AMC administrator A K Pandey, the initiative aiming to revive the lost glory of the city's pride Kham River was started in January. The conservation and beautification project is three years long. In the first year, the task is to remove silt, garbage blocking the flow of river water, prevent further deposition of garbage in the river, tree plantation (to increase green cover on the banks), plan sewage management, discourage residents from releasing their drainage in the river etc.
Pandey thanked religious priests and leaders for joining the drive. The civic chief appealed to the residents staying on the banks of the river to be responsible and do not throw their daily garbage waste in the water body. He also ordered to plan and complete works to be implemented in the bed of the river before May 15.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of Aurangabad Cantonment Board (ACB), Vikrant More, district mining officer Atul Daud, AMC's head of solid waste management (SWM) cell Nandkishore Bhombe, deputy commissioner Aparna Thete, deputy engineer Devidas Pandit, sanitary inspector Asadullah Khan and others were present on occasion.
The religious priests participating in the drive include Rev. Timothy Sharad, R B Gaikwad, Navgire, Hafiz Abdul Hameed, Duttaprasad Joshi, Mangesh Kulkarni, Ramkrishna Banegaonkar, Bhadant Mahathero Harshabodhi, Maninder Singh Granthi and Raja Singh Granthi. The MIT-MBA's faculty, students, Eco-Sattva team and officials from AMC's mechanical section, garden section, SWM section, Smart City, NGOs including Life Care and many citizens took part in today's drive.