Mumbai to have de-silting work monitors, grievance helpline, says CM Eknath Shinde

Shinde also said that an online dashboard would be created through which citizens would be able to lodge complaints related to the de-silting of drains and rivers.

“Over the past many years, we have seen the BMC making claims of overachieving its target of pre-monsoon de-silting work. Even after this, there would be waterlogging. This clearly shows there is a lack of accountability. Therefore, I have asked the municipal commissioner to appoint a team of civic officials who will monitor de-silting work and not take the figures given by the contractors at face value. If the team finds that the work is not being carried out as per standards, they should penalise the contractors,” Shinde told reporters.

“The deadline to complete de-silting work is May 31, and by this time the BMC will start a helpline through which citizens will be able to register complaints if the drains and waterbodies in their locality are not de-silted properly. The administration will have to act on the complaints by June 10, failing which officers responsible for not executing the work will be penalised,” he added.

Shinde said the government would felicitate officers if there is no significant flooding and waterlogging in Mumbai during the monsoon. “The process of keeping Mumbai flood-free is ongoing and we are hopeful that we will be fully ready to mitigate flooding during the rains, unlike previous years, when there used to be serious waterlogging even after a 50mm spell of rain,” he said.

The chief minister, along with senior civic officials, carried out a two-day long inspection of the drains and rivers in the state capital. He visited the chronic flooding areas in the western suburbs, including the Khar subway and Oshiwara, on Friday. He then took stock of the river rejuvenation work in Dahisar, Oshiwara and Poisar.

According to the BMC, 90 per cent of the pre-monsoon de-silting work has been completed in the eastern suburbs, followed by 89 per cent in the western suburbs and 75 per cent each in the island city and the Mithi river. The civic body’s data states that 93 per cent of the minor drains have been de-silted so far. Mumbai has an overall 2,200km labyrinthine network of drains.