Why Mithi project did not reach its goal

The deluge of July 26,2005,which caused the 18km river to overflow and inundate large parts of suburban Mumbai,gave birth to the Rs-1,700-crore project to increase its rainwater runoff capacity. A stretch of 12km,starting upstream at the Vihar lake,was to be redeveloped by the BMC while the last 6km where the river tails off into the Mahim Creek was handed over to MMRDA.

So far,both the agencies have managed to widen and deepen the river and increase its capacity three-fold but it’s still short of the target.

Great urgency was shown by all agencies in removal of encroachments along the Mithi immediately after the delu ge but,as officials admit,the pace of work came down considerably over the years. As many as 2,652 residential and 1,148 commercial structures were brought down during April-July 2006 in the first phase of the project. In the second phase,only 1,122 structures were removed. Most of the remaining 1,139 structures are on the stretch from CST Bridge to Kurla Kalina Bridge— where 469 structures stand on government land at Kismat Nagar.

Tenders worth Rs 660 crore for various works are stuck because of these encroachments,officials admitted. Additional collector Avinash Dhakne said the biggest reason for the delay is non-cooperation of slum dwellers. “If they do not submit papers,how can we determine the eligibility? As per our records,along the Mithi stretch,we are left with the survey of 382 structures near Kurla,” he said. About 9,000 tenements for project-affected persons have already been readied by the MMRDA and handed over to the BMC.

The project has some major shortcomings. Key factors — preventing pollution of the river by stopping inflow of untreated sewage,cracking down on release of industrial effluents into the river,and conserving marine ecology including mangroves — are not addressed. The project’s single-minded goal has been to prevent the river from flooding the city. BMC additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta admitted that the goal of giving a fresh lease of life to the Mithi cannot be realised unless the areas around the river’s estuarine region are freed of encroachments,and the haphazard flow of sewers is stopped.

“Sixty per cent of all sewage generated in the city goes into the sea without being treated and the same holds true for areas around the Mithi river,especially slums that do not even have a basic sewer network. Originally,about 13 major rainwater outfalls are meant to meet the main Mithi flow but obviously the untreated sewage enters the river through these. A separate project to overhaul the sewerage system is needed,” said Gupta.

The other slum pockets holding up the project include the Morarji Nagar and Filterpada slums in Powai,Jari Mari,Bail Bazaar in Kurla amongst others. The deadline for the project is March 2014.