Mula-Mutha

The Mula-Mutha is a river in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, formed by the confluence of the Mula and Mutha rivers in the city of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state, which later flows into the Bhima River, which itself is a tributary of the

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

and finally empties into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. The river flows through the village of Kavadi in the Pune district, witnesses many migratory birds. However, increase in pollution in the recent years has resulted in a reduction in the number of birds. Pollution from effluents released into the river at

has been found to cause high levels of pollution in the Bhima River, the reservoir of Ujani dam and Krishna River, too, resulting in many water-borne ailments. Due to high levels of pollution, including 125 MLD of untreated sewerage water being discharged into the river by the

Pune Municipal Corporation Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is the civic body that governs the inner limits of Pune, India. It is in charge of the civic needs and infrastructure of the metropolis, which is spread over an area of 500 sq. km. and has 3.4 million resident ...

, the

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board () (established 7 September 1970) implements a range of environmental legislation in the state of Maharashtra, India. The MPCB functions under the administrative control of Environment Department of the G ...

has classified the water quality to be of ''Class-IV''. The Pune Municipal Corporation announced plans to clean up and restore the river by pumping in oxygen on the lines of restoration efforts undertaken in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

for the Mithi River. In 2011, it was reported that several Japanese businessmen were keen on offering support to a plan initiated by the ''

Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture The Maratha Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) is an Indian business advocacy and networking group located in Pune, serving businesses in the state of Maharashtra. It was established in 1934 by Atmaram Raoji Bhat, and is one o ...

'' and supported by the

to clean up and beautify the Mula-Mutha river. The same year, the Pune Municipal Corporation gave its approval to build a riverside road on the banks of the Mula-Mutha from Shivane to Kharadi, covering a distance of to link several important roads in the city. In 2014, the Pune Police discovered that

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

plants were being grown on the riverbed near Kharadi. In 2022, the

under the ruling party BJP has given its nod to spend over Rs5,500 crore on the improvement and beautification of the Mula-Mutha river in the coming years, in this two mega projects including development of the riverfront (total Rs4,000 crore) and rejuvenation of the river (total Rs1,500 crore) will take place. According to RTI requests filed by Sarang Yadwadkar, an environmentalist, the project is laced with many irregularities and has been violating environmental norms.

See also

References