Rajkot, May 30 (IANS): The BJP's sitting MLA from Rajkot South, Govind Patel, has demanded the clean up of the Aji river. He alleged that for long untreated drain water and construction and demolition waste is being dumped into it, which is reducing the river's water carrying capacity.

Speaking to media persons, Patel said "many drains are directly discharging untreated waste in the river, it not only pollutes the river but it also smells bad along the river passing through the city."

In the past the Gujarat Pollution Control Board issued notices to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation over discharging untreated sewage into the river, he said.

Patel said he can't wait till the Riverfront Project commences. "Whenever the project commences, corporation should clean the river at the earliest, and the corporation should stop illegal sewage discharge into the river," he added.

"The Municipal Corporation's sewage lines waste is discharged into the river only after treatment, but in some pockets slums and illegal societies discharge their sewage directly into the river, because of which some parts of the river are polluted," said Amit Arora, Municipal Commissioner.

The corporation is ready to deploy people and clean the river but right now its teams are busy with pre-monsoon work like cleaning natural drains, the officer said.

"The MLA's main concern is about construction and demolition waste, because of which the riverbed's width decreases and in monsoon, the river's water carrying capacity goes down. That issue will be addressed," he clarified.