With April coming to an end, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been able to complete 37% of its annual pre-monsoon desilting works. Every year, as a precautionary move to minimise water-logging in the city, the civic body removes silt from all major and minor drains, rivers and water bodies in Mumbai, to allow free flow of water during heavy rain. Last year, the civic body had spent Rs 180 crore for cleaning the drains, while this year it aims to spend nearly Rs 226 crore. The civic data states that so far, 46% of the drains in island city have been desilted followed by 56% in the eastern suburbs and 44% in the western suburbs. Alongside this, 26% of Mithi River has been desilted, along with 19% of the drains in the periphery of the expressway and 33% of small drains at the municipal ward level. The civic data also states that so far, 3.54 lakh metric tonnes of silt have been removed. It is pertinent to note that the BMC had floated tenders for pre-monsoon desilting works during December last year. This came after the BMC was criticised as the drainage cleaning work started late last year due to delay in issuance of work order, after the electoral committee was dissolved in March last year. "The work orders for desilting the drains were issued in February last week and the work started during the first week of March. So far, the progress has been good and we are hopeful of achieving our target by end of May or first week of June at the most," said an official. The BMC's rule states that ahead of monsoon, 75% of the desilting works have to be completed, while the remaining 25% is desilted after the rains come. "However, the issue of solid waste material is going to continue. Even after desilting the drains, most of the drains and rivers in the city are covered with solid waste, which may obstruct free flow of water during the rains that may lead to clogging of the outfall and cause flooding in some low-lying areas," added the official. In total, there are 254 km of major drains, 443 km of minor drains and 21 km of Mithi river being desilted annually. In addition to this, the BMC will also desilt the drains that are in the periphery of the Western and Eastern Express Highways, since the civic body has taken up the responsibility of these two arterial roads last year. Meanwhile, the BMC has urged people not to throw garbage and solid waste material in the drains. To maintain transparency in the work, the civic body has been uploading real time data of desilting works on its website. The BMC has also mandated site officers to upload the data of regular progress in an internally regulated mobile application, which will have the quantum of progress along with a date and location stamp.
