De-silting of drains, rivers: BMC to seek progress report from Railways

Another official said Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta would visit the site of the cleaning work, being carried out by the railways, on Wednesday.

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Officials from the storm water drain department said that despite several requests, the railways was yet to share the progress report. “Last month, we had a meeting where we told the railways to share the progress report with us. But, they haven’t, yet. So, we later instructed our officials to inspect the sites to get the work done by May end,” said an official.

The official added the railway authorities (Central and Western railways) had been given a deadline to complete the work before May 31. “There are only a few days left, before the arrival of monsoon. If the drains are not cleaned by then, even light showers may cause flooding on the tracks and other areas,” said an official, adding that the BMC had paid close to Rs 4 crore to the railway authorities for the work.

The work pertains to desilting of nullahs, running under railway tracks. At least 20% of the city’s drains pass through areas under the control of the railways. There are at least 150 culverts on its premises. After heavy rainfall, the city was flooded on June 19, last year, and local train services had been disrupted.