It took only few years to turn a naturally owing river into a drain. 17.84 k.m stretch of MithiNadi (river), an arterial river, running along north-south axis of Bombay (Mumbai) is facing the grimproblems of backyard atrocities. Finding its way through the odds of household garbage, industrialsewage, other pollutants and encroachments, Mithi river originates from the conuence of two essentialreservoirs; Vihar Lake and Powai Lake and merging with Arabian Sea at Mahim creek. The stategovernment is trying to rescue the river with their elusive plan but is being implemented with lessconcurrency in mind. The responsibility of restoring the river being shared between two authoritiesMumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and BrihanMumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) directed by Mithi River Development and Planning Authority (MRDPA), givesa deceptive impression of revival and truth. Currently the authorities are resettling the informals,widening and deepening the river simultaneously building the retaining wall to safeguard the bank.The odds would be if both the authorities shell up a unique comprehensive plan under MRDPA forrestoring the river involving community. The aim of this report is to devise a 'design based' restorationplan to achieve long term riparian ecosystem and sustainability of Mithi river. The restoration strategiesfor urban rivers are understood by analysing the riparian ecosystem techniques through literaturereading on river -engineering, river -morphology and reviewing Los Angeles River, California-USA andCheonggyecheon River in Korea cases. Dealing with odds Mithi Nadi (river) is facing today and basedon socio-economic background and technical design aspects for the river, this master thesis proposes a3-Phase restoration model method to achieve the target. Phase-I would involve community awarenesswith participatory approach while building strong network, it also highlights a plan in segmenting theriver into 10 divisions for Phase-II surveillance and incognisant waste disposal methods. Phase-II of applyingriparian techniques will then be initiated bearing the narrow widths, existing residential sectorsalong the bank and current urbanization. Finally, Phase-III will commence with a community basedmonitoring plan underpinning Phase-I sectoral division plan for the river. The proposal is discussedusing SWOT analysis and whether the implications of the techniques are suitable in retrospective. Butnally it can be said that although there are several ways to restore a river, best strategy can only beachieved through community participation by fractioning their inputs appropriately.

Field research was conducted to investigate the impact of vegetative filter strips (VFSs) on surface runoff water quality and to determine if this impact decreases with time. The field research provided information for the development and testing of a model to describe the dynamics and fate of nitrogen (N) in VFSs. The experiment had a completely randomized design, with 3 treatments and 2 replicates per treatment. The treatments were 3 VFS lengths: 0, 4.27, and 8.5 m VFSs. The distribution free Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that the runoff, TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N, and TKN yields and concentrations from the 8.5 m VFSs were significantly less (α = 0.05) than the influent values. The TSS and NH₄⁺-N yields and concentrations and the TKN concentration from the 4.27 m VFSs were significantly less than the influent yields and concentrations. The Mann-Kendall test indicated that the yields of TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N, and TKN from the filters did not significantly increase from 1992 to 1993 and neither did the FTKN yield nor the FTKN concentration from the beginning to the end of 1993. The mean percentage reductions in influent runoff, TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N,, and TKN yields from the 8.5 m filters were 73, 91, 79, 86, and 83%, respectively. The mean percentage reductions in influent TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N, and TKN concentrations from the 8.5 m filters were 88, 50, 66, and 75%. The mean percentage reductions in influent runoff, TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N, and TKN yields from the 4.27 m filters were 43, 83, 55, 40, and 56%, respectively. The mean percentage reductions in influent TSS, NO₃⁻-N, NH₄⁺-N, and TKN concentrations from the 4.27 m filters were 81, 45, 26, and 41%. Based on the information gathered from the experiment results and the literature, a continuous, long-term, field scale model (Grass Filter Strip Model, GFSM) was developed to describe N transport and dynamics in VFSs. The model was based on GRAPH (GRAssed-strip-PHosphorus), a field scale, event-based model that describes sediment and P transport in runoff. The model simulates sediment, nitrate, sediment-bound and dissolved ammonium, and sediment-bound organic N transport during a runoff event. The model simulates the daily percolation and evapotranspiration and dynamics of nitrate, sediment-bound and dissolved ammonium, and sediment-bound organic N in the filter between runoff events. The model predicts the amount of N and sediment exiting the VFSs, and it can be used to estimate the site specific effectiveness and length of VFSs. The model can also be run for an event to assess the effectiveness of VFSs in reducing nonpoint source pollution loading from a single design storm. The model was validated using runoff, sediment, NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ yield field data gathered from April to December, 1993. The model predicted reasonably well (within a factor of 2) the cumulative runoff volume and the yields of TSS. NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺. The model was most sensitive to the runoff rate, depth of the EDI, soil water storage depth, field capacity, and the steady-state infiltration rates. The model was used to determine the minimum length of VFS required for a 1.3 ha field in Georgia to achieve 75% and 40% sediment and nutrient reductions, respectively, over a 10-year period. The model results indicated that a buffer length of 6.3 m was sufficient to reduce sediment and nitrogen losses by the specified percentages. / Ph. D.

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