BMC completes nearly 70% of pre-mosoon desilting work of Mithi river

Civic officials said the main cause behind the slow progress is due to the investigation of a Rs 1,100 crore scam related to the desilting of Milthi river. The probe is being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Officials said in May, the owners of the contractual firms, along with their supervisors, went absconding, leading to the incomplete desilting work. The BMC appointed a new contractor and civic officials said the desilting of Mithi river will continue till June 30.

Every year, the 18km-long Mithi river is desilted ahead of monsoon as a flood mitigation measure. The entire stretch of the river is divided into three stretches or packages.

The first package comprises the longest stretch of 11.8km between Vihar Lake Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP)—from where the river originates—-to Teacher’s Colony (Bandra East) covering Vakola and Kalina, which are low-lying areas. Civic data shows that in this stretch, around 83 per cent of the silt has been removed till date.

The second stretch of 1.3km largely covers the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), where 50.55 per cent of silt has been removed so far. Around 72.09 per cent silt has been removed from the final stretch of 4.7km that covers Dharavi and Mahim areas and eventually goes into the Arabian Sea.

During monsoon, the water level in the river swells, which makes the river overflow in the adjoining areas. The Mithi river was considered to be one of the factors that caused the infamous waterlogging incident in July 2006 that crippled the entire city.

Civic officials maintained that incomplete desilting work is not going to be a case of concern during monsoon.

“While we have completed desilting more than 80 per cent in the first stretch so far, the progress has been slow in the second and the third stretches. However, these factors are not going to be any case of concern because at the BKC area, the river bed gets wide enough to allow smooth flow of water in the case of heavy rains. In the third stretch near the Mahim area, there is a dense mangrove cover that acts as a buffer against flooding and waterlogging. Also, this area has a wider outfall so clearly we have a natural geographical advantage,” a senior official told The Indian Express.

“Currently, rainfall has stopped. During the ongoing dry patch, we intend to complete a significant chunk of desilting the Mithi river in the next one week. We will be able to achieve significant progress by the end of this month,” added the official.

Data available with the BMC shows that 100 per cent of the pre-monsoon desilting work has been completed in all the major drains at Mumbai’s island city, eastern and western suburbs while 78 per cent of desilting has been completed in the minor drains.

Mumbai has a vast network of nullahs, with 261.52km of major nullahs (over 1.5 metres wide) and 411.56 km of minor nullahs (less than 1.5 metres wide), along with other types of drains like arch and roadside drains. The overall network of drains in Mumbai stands at nearly 3,800 km. Ahead of monsoon this year, the BMC had appointed 25 agencies on a two-year contract for Rs 468 crore to carry out desilting in Mumbai.