Once upon a Mula Mutha - then and now

The Mula Mutha river flowing through Pune city harbours a precious hotspeck of biodiversity, especially downstream of Bund Garden. Dr Erach Bharucha provides an ecological history of Mula Mutha and insights into the functioning of the river ecosystem. Its slow moving shallows, and the river banks form an integral whole, providing important ecosystem services of natural beauty, flood control with its wide channel, and water purification. Preserving such stretches would benefit the city much more than embankments and channelization.