Nashik: Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has decided to outsource the cleaning of River Godavari by roping in private parties. Four different contractors will be engaged to clean the river between Anandvalli weir and Dasak-Panchak, a stretch of nine km.This stretch of the river has been divided into four parts -- Anandvalli weir to Chopda bridge, Chopda bridge to Holkar bridge, Holkar bridge to Kapila-Godavari Sangam and fourth, Kapila Sangam to Dasak-Panchak. Each of these four parts will be handled by one contractor.NMC officials said the contractor will have to remove plastic, paper, garbage and waste from the river. “The contractors will be appointed initially for one year. We have already invited bids,” an official said, adding that the work on the project would begin next month.NMC has been extremely concerned about pollution in the Godavari and its tributaries that fall under its jurisdiction.City-based environmentalists have been raising the issue at regular intervals, claiming that NMC has not been doing enough to prevent river pollution. The Bombay High Court too has pulled NMC up in the past over Godavari pollution. The rampant spread of water hyacinth is one of many issues that plague the river on this stretch, besides pollution from plastic and other waste.“Contractors will have to engage labourers on a daily basis to clean the river. Apart from manpower, they have to deploy boats to remove water hyacinth and waste,” an NMC official said.In the past too, private contractors have been involved in cleaning the river.

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