Maharashtra’s Morna river was dead for years and unwanted waste materials were present all over it. However, a group of people decided to bring the dead river back to life as they turned around the fate of the river.
The people of Akola district started a mass movement and a cleanup drive to restore the Morna river.
Delighted by the enthusiasm and dedication of the locals of Akola, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also appreciated their best efforts in 40th edition of monthly radio show, Mann Ki Baat, “Mission Clean Morna River is a wonderful initiative, where people came together to clean the river,” the Prime Minister had said.
The Clean Morna Mission was first launched in January 2018 and within 6 months, this people’s movement made it to the Golden Book of World Records, an international book of records, for the mass public participation in river cleaning.
It should be noted that Morna river was once reduced to a waste dump because of unceasing garbage dumping, however, because of people’s constant efforts to rejuvenate the river, now clean water flows freely
For months, every Saturday, people from the district visited the Morna river and dedicated a few hours to get rid of garbage including weeds, plastic, wild grass and water hyacinths.
“The 173-kilometre-long Morna river, a major tributary of Purna river (tributary of Tapti), is the main water source for Akola district, located around 240 km from Nagpur,” said a report by NDTV.