After heavy rain in Mumbai, blame game starts over desilting of drains

Targeting the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party that control the BMC, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress mounted an offensive. NCP’s Dhananjay Munde, leader of opposition in the state legislative council, sought an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe into contracts awarded for cleaning drains. “It is a big sham. Not even 10 per cent of the silt to be removed for which money has been spent is cleaned. Even the muck removed is not carried away and finds its way back into the drains. There is a politician-official-contractor nexus,” Munde claimed.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant demanded a probe by the urban development department.

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BJP and Shiv Sena leaders also fired barbs at each other. B’P’s Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar, launching a veiled attack on ally Shiv Sena, said he had already raised a question mark over quality of nullah cleaning prior to monsoon. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said the BMC alone could not be blamed for Friday’s events. In a veiled reference, Thackeray pointed a fingers at the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Asked about the blame game, Fadnavis said, “Instead of blaming each other, it is time all came together to overcome problems Mumbai face.”

Officials claim drains can handle 100 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, but 250 mm-280 mm will cause water-logging given the geographical peculiarities of Mumbai. Poor coordination among the agencies involved was also seen as another factor contributing to the failure.

Near Amar Mahal junction in Chembur, a portion of the east-west Santacruz-Chembur-Link-Road was severely water-logged through the day, paralysing traffic heading for Eastern Express Highway. The Rs 428-crore road was opened to traffic in April last year. A senior engineer from MMRDA said this water-logging was on account of drainage lines being linked to those of the Central Railway. “Till water on railway tracks recedes, there can’t be any respite on SCLR,” he said. He added that the authority, which has now handed over the road to the civic body, had to battle a similar situation last year. “The only way out is to raise height of the road on that stretch. We will have to conduct a study to see if it is possible,” he added.

Brimstowad (Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drains Project) remains incomplete.

The BMC says 60 per cent of the desilting work was completed by May-end. Opposition leaders claim less than 25 per cent of the work has been done. Major drains including Irla nullah in Juhu, Mogra nullah in Andheri, Somaiya nullah in Ghatkopar and Rafique nullah in Govandi contributed to flooding on Friday.

BMC additional municipal commissioner SVR Sinivas said fines were collected from several contractors in the last 45 days for shoddy work on drains. But officials were not sure if the work was rectified in time.

tanushreevenkatraman@expressindia.com