RIVERS 2 LAST(BES28)

Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh, his brother and local Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh, his brother and localCongress leader Amit Deshmukh and the local BJP unit donatedRs 25 lakh each, while the doctors association and Cap Geminicontributed Rs 40 lakh each. "Agriculture Produce Market Committee and RSS’s JankalyanSamitii contributed Rs 11 lakh each," said Gomare, who is afarmer. The rest of the money came from common people. "The cost of desilting was estimated at Rs 7.5 crore.School students, teachers, professors, lawyers and otherscontributed. Even the youngsters who sell knick-knacks on thefootpath contributed Rs 1 lakh. A sanitation worker who hadretired from the municipal council contributed his firstpension amount of Rs 18,000," Gomare said. The oil companies offered the diesel required for thework at a concessional rate. "People provided machinery atcheap rates and we worked for 22 hours a day. All this savedus Rs 1.50 crore and the project got completed in only Rs 6crore," he said. As of today, Manjara river is full of water along astretch of 15.5 km and Rena for a stretch of 6 km. There areseveral barrages across the two rivers which are now full. Pol said the government spent nearly the same amount forwater conservation and desilting work on Manjara river (frombeyond the point where the people’s committee carried outdesilting). The collector agreed that the committee proved that thework through public participation can be done more swiftly andat a less cost. "We hope at least for the next eight months,the reservoirs along the rivers will provide sufficientdrinking water to the city and its surroundings," he said. PTIMM KRKKISJMF