Mumbai: 9,600 MT garbage collected; civic chief says 28,000 people at work

The garbage comprised thermocol, plastic bags and wrappers. The worst-hit areas were LBS Road in Kurla where sludge caused by the overflowing water of the Mithi river made the road slippery and a risky ride for two-wheelers. The SWM staff had to cordon off portions of the road for the clean up.

The situation was similar in Hindmata and Gandhi Market where water levels had not receded till Wednesday morning even though the BMC claimed that all six pumping stations were functional throughout Tuesday. “Even though we have installed several de-watering pumps in the area, the water that had accumulated near Hindmata as well as near Sion station refused to recede. Officials at the site, however, had reported that there was a lot of floating garbage that had to be removed before the water level started receding,” said a senior civic official.

Wardwise figures indicated that the highest quantity of waste was 293 metric tonne collected from two wards, K West comprising Andheri, Juhu and Versova and L Ward comprising Kurla. Workers on the night shift and the early shift at 6.30am were seen cleaning up laboriously. “After such a situation, the immediate priority is to ensure cleanliness so that spread of diseases can be curbed. With many workers unable to reach work, the workload on those who managed to reach was more. A lot of garbage had accumulated, especially wherever water had accumilated. We had to ensure that it was removed immediately,” said Mohan Bhosale, a conservancy worker deployed in Bandra.

Additional temporary workers through contractrors were engaged. In Matunga area, two women deployed to clean streets said due to the rain, it was taking twice the time to complete the work. “Usually, we complete a 2 km stretch in three hours. Today, it has taken us over four hours. There is a lot of plastic stuck on the sides of the roads,” said one of the workers.