Indore, Feb 16 (PTI) The blueprint of a Rs 600 crore project to make Kshipra, Kanh and Saraswati rivers pollution free ahead of the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Ujjain has been prepared by the Indore district administration in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Friday.
The plan includes setting up 11 sewage treatment plants (STP) and laying of 450 kilometres of sewerage lines, District Magistrate Ashish Singh said after chairing a meeting of officials here.
“We have set a target to purify Kanh and Saraswati rivers in Indore and Kshipra in Ujjain within the next two-and-a-half years. This project will cost around Rs 600 crore, which we will implement with the help of experts. The state pollution control boards will ensure industrial effluents are not discharged into these rivers,” he said.
Notably, in January, the Indore district administration had sealed nine factories for discharging untreated waste into the Kshipra and Kanh rivers, officials said.
Kshipra, which originates from the rural Indore, reaches Ujjain, where lakhs of devotees take a holy dip during the Simhastha Kumbh Mela that is held every 12 years.
Kshipra is also called ‘Mokshadayini’ (salvation provider) by Hindus.
Kanh and Saraswati rivers have turned into “nullahs” while passing through Indore, the state’s commercial capital and the country’s cleanest city, before merging with the Kshipra and polluting it as well, officials said.
Ujjain is the home turf of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and he is taking special interest in the campaign to purify the Kshipra river before the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, they added. PTI HWP MAS BNM BNM
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