Surat: Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is fighting a hard battle against hydrilla and water hyacinth in Tapi river. When SMC staffers had cleaned up one stretch of the river of the water vegetation, it grows in another because of drain water.Tapi riverbed has not overflowed since 2014 because of poor monsoons for four years. Therefore, natural cleaning of the riverbed has not taken place. Constant flow of drain water into the riverbed from over 14 outlets upstream of Tapi provides water vegetation a conducive atmosphere for growth.“Water vegetation grows in stagnant water. Drain water aids its growth. It is a hard battle against Hydrilla and water Hyacinth,” said S Bhagwakar, executive engineer, hydraulic department, SMC.SMC officials said daily 2,100 cubic metre of water vegetation is removed by eight employees from the river with help of two weeder machines, three pokeland machines and eight boats. There is huge amount of water vegetation in Rander intake well below Jahangirpura-Dabholi bridge and below Aswini Kumar railway bridge.If the water vegetation is not removed from the river, it will create problems for the civic body’s water supply network. “We hope heavy monsoon this year will clean the riverbed of the vegetation. It will ensure relief for at least two years,” Bhagwakar added.

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