Volunteers help clean up Musi riverfront

Hyderabad: In a bid to restore Musi river, volunteers working with the Musi Development Corporation are helping clean-up the riverfront from Osman Sagar dam till Narsingi bridge.

“We have been carrying out clean-up activities over the past one-and-a-half months. In view of Covid-19, about 20 volunteers take part in every clean-up session,” said Rajashree Pinnamaneni, who is with the Gandipet Welfare Society (GWS).

The volunteers are covering a 5km stretch. “We have finished work on two-and-half km stretch and cleared around 10 tonnes of garbage. About 1km stretch near the dam can’t be reached by machines. So a group of volunteers are cleaning it every weekend,” she said. She said the clean-up will most likely be completed over the next two weekends. After this, the volunteers plan to help set up two sewage treatment plants. “This will help treat waste water flowing at the start,” said Rajashree. “The volunteer-government connect will allow speedy restoration of the lake,” Vrinda Chouhan, a volunteer, said. She said garbage removal, desilting and removal of weeds obstructing the flow of water is some of the work being done.

Tweeting about it, MAUD principal secretary Arvind Kumar said: “With the help of local residents and about 20 volunteers, the (GWS) takes up cleaning of Musi from Gandipet gates till Narsingi every weekend 6.30-9 am. Great work.”