Civic Body Cleans and Preserves Geological Wonder in Mutha Riverbed

10 Jul 2024

The civic body on Monday cleaned the garbage and overgrowth of aquatic plants from the natural potholes formed by the once-turbulent Mutha river near Shivane crematorium.

According to officials, news of the geological wonder reached the civic body through a report on July 5 and they decided to start a clean-up drive. The report highlighted the need to preserve the natural feature from anthropogenic interferences.

These depressions in the Mutha riverbed though shallow are an indicator of how the river once flowed with force and scoured the basalt bedrock to make the potholes.

The river carried pebbles and rocks and the fast-flowing water made them swirl and gouged out circular erosional features in the riverbed.

There are similar erosional features in the Indrayani riverbed as well. But the ones in the Mutha seem to be prominent, experts said.

Even though the potholes are shallow, this wonder is similar or a very muted example of the ‘Kundalika potholes’ found in the Kukadi’s river bed in Nighoj close to Pune in Ahmednagar district.

Geologists say the basalt rock in the Deccan plateau allows for this form of river erosion in Maharashtra. The potholes in the Mutha riverbed were highly neglected, filled with garbage and weeds making it hard for observers to determine how deep or how significant they are.

“We were informed of such a structure present in Pune after reading the The Times of India report. We contacted the right people and scheduled a clean-up drive with the locals. We will now conduct regular monitoring of the area and install barricades to stop entry of people in the area as well. Boards will come up to educate any passersby of the importance of such a structure, deputy municipal commissioner from PMC’s solid waste department, said.

Around three tonnes of waste was collected from all the pot-shaped structures in the riverbed with thirty people from the civic administration and 10 local volunteers participating in the drive on Monday.

“The area is completely clean now, except for the banks. Considering the importance of this structure, we will hold an event to dispel information for students and experts. Once everything is in place, we will hold workshops with gram panchayat school students to eventually become local guides, members of the Nanded City Social Cultural Foundation, said.

Experts said the natural formation must be conserved and kept free of garbage. “These potholes are a legacy of the geological history of the Mutha river’s course and must be preserved to explain its importance to all. Today, they are full of dirt, littered with plastic, papers, bottles and other forms of trash. About 15 years ago, this stretch of the river was cleaner and we could study the potholes. Now, they have garbage,” geomorphology expert said.

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Civic Body Cleans and Preserves Geological Wonder in Mutha Riverbed

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