Committee probing BMC’s de-silting work gets extension

“The committee had a meeting with Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on Tuesday. It was formed following a huge political uproar over BMC’s unpreparedness to tackle monsoon.

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According to officials, the scope of work for the committee includes a probe on the alleged “places” where the silt was dumped. Earlier, BMC had faced allegations that contractors had “faked” documents indicating that silt has been dumped outside Mumbai including places like Mankol (Thane), Dive-Anjur (Thane), Ulwe (Raigad), Jasai (Raigad), Vaishvi (Raigad), Surai Sarang (Thane). The allegations were made by opposition corporators.

“However, it seems that very less silting was undertaken. The officials will visit these places to check on these claims. The committee will also check on how the contractors weighed the silt and if due process was followed,” the official added.

Sources also said that the commissioner has asked all the deputy municipal commissioners to prepare a list of areas that was water-logged on June 19, the day the city came to a standstill following heavy rains. “Work on areas that can be immediately dealt with has begun. Meanwhile, permanent solutions for low-lying areas is also being thought about,” another official said.

BMC has also noticed that many of the 272 de-watering pumps installed to remove excess water from the streets had failed to function due to lack of maintenance or diesel re-fill. On June 19, the city received more than 282 mm rainfall leading to water-logging in more than 200 locations, traffic snarls, tree falls and a complete shutdown of all rail services.

tanushree.venkatraman@expressindia.com