Adopt a River Stretch Program

About Jeevitnadi – Living River Foundation

‘Jeevitnadi’ started as an informal group of people passionate for River Conservation in 2014. In 2016, the group
acquired the status of a non-profit section-8 company as ‘Jeevitnadi- Living River Foundation’.

Since beginning, the mission of Jeevitnadi has been Revival of Rivers through public participation. It has also
brought 18 organisations together, to strengthen efforts.

Over the last 3-4-year span, Jeevitnadi has been playing instrumental role in changing the perception of common
people towards river and recreating the lost relationship of society and the rivers in Pune city.

Broad work areas

Muthai River Walk
Toxin-free Lifestyle sessions
Adopt a River Stretch
“Story of a River” exhibition
Wetland Development, Nirmalya project
Muthai River Festival
Storytelling by the river

http://www.jeevitnadi.org/
Adopt a River Stretch Program
 Case-studies all around the world suggest
that
“River revival is not possible without participation of citizens”
 It is a general perception that
“People in urban areas simply do not care about their rivers”
Our Experiment
We asked people what they feel about the river

To our surprise..
9 out of 10 people stopped
talked about river
People of all ages had lot to share
Our Learning

People in urban areas

• Are not indifferent to their rivers

• They wish to do “something”

BUT
• They do not know how and where to start
• Starting alone is scary
Adopt a River Stretch

We launched this program

To bring together good intentions in the society,

Back it up with solid ecological knowledge
&
convert it into meaningful action towards river conservation
Current Projects in Pune
under this Program

Mutha river at Vitthalwadi

Mutha river at S. M. Joshi Bridge
Mutha river at Omkareshwar mandir
-----
Mula river at Aundh
Mula-Ram nadi confluence at Aundh
First Project- Vitthalwadi

Mutha River
Start: May 2017

Every Sunday
7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Project- AUNDH

Mula River
Start: July 2017

Every Saturday
7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Project- AUNDH

Mula – Ram Confluence

Start: August 2017

Every Sunday
7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Project- S. M. Joshi Bridge

Mutha River
Start: June 2018

Every Saturday
7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Project - Omkareshwar

Mutha River
Start: July 2018

Every Saturday
7:45 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Ahilyadevi Prashala
Kai. Sou. Sundarbai Rathi Prashala
Project – Shivaji Bridge

Mutha River
Start: Soon
Vitthalwadi Project

• It started with 3 people

• Every week new members joined

• Youngest member is 7 and eldest is 77

Challenges
All the possible stresses on the river in urban landscape
Solid waste Rituals Chemicals & sewage in water

Religious fair Encroachments Idol immersion

What We DO
Cleanup: Solid waste
dumped on the banks,
dumped in the channel,
brought by floods,
carried from upstream
What We DO
Cleanup
Waste is categorized and documented
Non-recyclables given to Municipal waste management
Intact glass bottles are sent to scrap shops
 What We DO
Going to the source of Solid Waste Problem
Collection of plastic at the source to be sent to recycling facility
• 5 Schools

• 5 Residentials Societies

• Discussion with the corporator

• Discussion with PMC field staff

• Joint meeting with all the stakeholders

What We DO

Biodiversity Documentation
What We DO Habitat Documentation
 What We DO
Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring. Desired DO is 8 ppm.
So… 8 = ∞
What is the current state?

August 2017
July 2017 DO = 7 ppm
June, October - May DO = 2 ppm
DO = 0- 2 ppm
Storytelling by the river
"By re-storyng the river, by bringing it to life in our hearts and minds,
we can begin to work towards its physical restoration."
- The return of the river

Storytelling by the River

Bringing children to the river, Bringing parents to the river

with
Storytelling by the river

On the bank of
Mutha river
Storytelling by the river

On the bank of
Mula- Mutha river
Storytelling by the river

On the bank of
Pawana river
Storytelling by the river

At
Mula-Ram Confluence
 Kirtan
To generate awareness
about nirmalya
composting instead of
disposal in the river,
traditional kirtan, with
message about the
river, river issues, our
responsibility was
organised in Vitthal
mandir on the river
bank.
Reducing Stresses on river
Nirmalya Management

Amount of nirmalya in the bin

= less nirmalya in the river

= more DO in the river

We had our fair share of frustrations

New gargabe every week

Un-segregated nirmalya
Eventually it changed (after around 8 months)
Clean riverbed proved deterrent
to garbage dumping.
Cooperation from PMC personnel
increased

Nirmalya is almost
100% segregated

People stop, talk to

us, share memories
of beautiful Mutha
Wetland Development
with

Alterations in the riverbed

have resulted
in stagnant pools, marshy
places.
Water from feeder
streams that should have
reached the river, result in
a series of stagnant pools
in the riverbed
Wetland Development

6-Sunday plan

• Join stagnant pools

• Let water flow from one
pool to another
• Treat it with plants
Wetland Development

Clean Water
reaches
the river
Wetland Development

With success of this pilot,

Now it will replicated
for more marshy places
in the riverbed

Booklet of this project can be downloaded here,

http://www.jeevitnadi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Wetland-Development-Project-Vitthalwadi-Booklet.pdf
Water Hyacinth Compost project
Water Hyacinth is removed from
the river

Alternate layers of dry leaves and

Water Hyacinth are created

Culture is added to speed up the

process
with
My River, My Responsibility
My River, My Responsibility
My River, My Responsibility
Our Associates

निसर्गसेवक

With invaluable cooperation from

“We do not inherit earth from our ancestors,
We borrow it from our children”

Let’s give our children,

what is rightfully theirs’

A LIVING RIVER
CLEAN & HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
Contact Us

www.jeevitnadi.org

jeevitnadi@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/jeevitnadi/

https://www.youtube.com/user/JeevitNadiAbhiyan

Aditi Deodhar- 7350000385