BMC blacklists contractor for desilting fraud, says mixed concrete with silt
The stringent action comes on the heels of Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Ashish Shelar concluding a two-day inspection of ongoing desilting drive
4 min read
The Synagogue is a grade 2B heritage structure and the state government's law states that the managers of these properties will have to acquire a consent letter from the BMC before carrying out repair works in any of these structures. (Express Photo)Amid the waterlogging triggered by unseasonal showers exposing the cracks in the civic body’s monsoon preparedness, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday blacklisted a contractor in the M/West ward, which encompasses Chembur, for three years for “defrauding the civic body” during desilting work. With inspections revealing that the contractor mixed concrete with silt, the civic body has further deregistered the contractor, while also writing to the police to file a case against the contractor.
The stringent action comes on the heels of Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Ashish Shelar concluding a two-day inspection of ongoing desilting drive across Mumbai’s drains on Friday, wherein he flagged that in the past 35 days barely 10 percent of desilting work had been completed. While conducting inspection in the eastern suburbs on Friday, he added there was also a discrepancy of nearly 40 percent in the desilting data.
A day later, the BMC on Saturday announced that it had taken strict action against a contractor for “defrauding the municipal corporation” by blacklisting the contractor for the next three years. According to officials, the contractor had been appointed through a work order issued on March 19 this year, in a bid to clean culverts, minor and major drains along the Eastern Express Highway.
However, a recent complaint raised with the Storm Water Drain (SWM) department alleged that the contractor had been mixing silt with concrete — a move that increases the weight of the sludge to reflect higher quantum of silt extracted while desilting. To examine the consignments of extracted silt, civic officials said AI was also used. “Our examination proved that the contractor was indeed transporting mixed sludge,” a BMC official said.
In view of the violation, the civic body issued a showcause notice to the contractor on April 28. While the contractor replied on April 30 and May 7, officials said their reasons were found “unsatisfactory”.
Earlier on Thursday, while raising concerns over the sluggish pace and unreliable desilting work, Shelar said contractors must be held accountable, without being shielded. “Serious questions remain unanswered — how are the nullahs’ length, width, height and depth measured during desilting? Where and how is this measured? What are the standards followed? Also, if modern technology and AI are being used, what kind of machinery and technology is being deployed? Since contractors have not been able to provide any of these details, we will raise these serious concerns with the BMC,” Shelar had said, while addressing reporters.
Meanwhile, a senior BMC official said civic authorities are keeping a close watch on the ongoing works. “Instead of announcing big targets, our goal is to reduce the generated silt, with each progressive year. This will mean that the numbers are not fudged by mixing other items and only silt is properly cleaned. We are also aiming to carry out characterisation of silt as often solid waste, which choke the drains, are mistaken with silt,” he said.
This year, the civic body has appointed contractors for desilting for a period of two years with the cost standing at nearly Rs 468 crore. Of the total amount, Rs 226 crore will be spent for desilting the smaller (minor) nullahs, while Rs 151 crore will be spent for desilting the large (major) nullahs. Besides this, the civic authorities will spend an additional Rs 91 crore for desilting the Mithi River.
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