'Namami Chandrabhaga' project yet to take off

The Namami Chandrabhaga project announced in June this year by the BJP-led Maharashtra government for the rejuvenation of Bhima river, has remained only on paper so far.
Through 'Namami Gange', the state government plans to make the Bhima river at holy town of Pandharpur in Solapur district pollution-free. The project was announced on the lines of Centre's Namami Gange initiative. The Bhima river is also referred to as Chandrabhaga as it resembles the shape of the moon at Pandharpur.
"The project not just aims to clean the Chandrabhaga river, but also to keep a check on areas upstream that have been causing pollution. It includes municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad and many towns and villages that release untreated sewage into the river," Solapur district Collector, Ranjit Kumar, told PTI.

"Namami Chandrabhaga is an ambitious project, hence its implementation is being planned very meticulously. The river-cleaning project is also linked to several development works, including construction of sewage treatment plants in major cities to avoid river pollution," he said.
When contacted, state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar admitted that the work was still largely on paper.
"The project costs over Rs 1,000 crore, in which municipal corporations are going to be funded for setting sewage treatment plants. Unless these funds are utilised on priority basis, the pollution level would not go down. Some meetings were held in this regard. But since it is a big project, it will take some time to roll out.