BMC issues desilting contract for two years, to cost Rs 468 crore

Speaking on the rise in cost, Mumbai’s municipal commissioner and state-appointed administrator, Bhushan Gagrani, told The Indian Express, “For the first time in Mumbai, the contract for executing the desilting work has been awarded for two years. So, the overall figures include the cost of the project for a duration of two years.”

Last year, the BMC took up desilting work of all the drains (nullahs) as well as Mithi River at a cost of Rs 249 crore. However, this year, the cost stood at Rs 468 crore, which according to authorities is for two years. It also means that the average annual cost for two years is Rs 234 crore. Civic authorities said that out 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.

The process of desilting refers to the removal of silt, muck and sediments which gets deposited on the beds of nullahs, canals and rivers in the city. These sediments slow down the force of water flowing through water bodies which in turn results in overflowing of water during heavy rain that leads to waterlogging in the city.

As a result, the BMC carries out desilting of drains throughout the year to ensure that the water flow stays uninterrupted, especially during the monsoon.

Mumbai has a vast network of nullahs, with 261.52 km 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 around 3,800 km.

“This year, we have appointed 25 agencies for executing the desilting work in city and suburbs. According to the existing rules, 80% of the silt is removed from water bodies before monsoon, while 10% is removed during the monsoon and the remaining 10% is removed post monsoon,” said the civic authorities in a statement.

Meanwhile, to ensure transparency and to prevent any foul play, the BMC has mandated the contractors to upload a minimum of 30 second videos of the desilting work by geo-tagging the location.

“The videos should be in three stages–before starting the work, while executing the start of the work and after the work is completed. Along with this–a CCTV system will be set up to monitor the progress of the work,” the civic body’s statement read.

“The originality of the uploaded videos will be verified by using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Integration of Technology will enable the administration towards monitoring the drive in a much more stringent manner,” the statement said.