Worry over BMC missing June 1 deadline

“The cement blocks used to the cover stormwater drains are made of poor material and break easily. Often,when the BMC resumes work on the drains,the lids break partially. These are not replaced. It has led to many road accidents because at night,people don’t see that a portion of the lids are uncovered,” said Jude Gonsalves,a resident of Khar (west).

Open drains,citizens point out,will also lead to the spread of diseases as they have turned into mosquito breeding sites and mini garbage dumps. Kedar Joshi,a resident of I C Colony,Borivali,said,“After BMC widened a road and shifted the drains five years ago,they are yet to cover them. People have been using the drains as a garbage dump and despite several written complaints,there has been no response from BMC. They are not cleaning the drains properly,they barely remove the silt. We are worried diseases such as dengue and malaria will spread in the area during the monsoon.”

Shruti Shetty,a resident of Santacruz (west),complained that problems of inundation worsen as hawkers set up stalls using the openings of the drains for support. “Thus,even in the monsoon,we have to deal with flooded roads,” said Shetty.

Chief engineer (Stormwater drains) L S Vhatkar said the responsibility of ensuring quality work on minor drains lies with ward officers.

“We started the work later this year because we had to finalise the two-year contract and secure required permission for dumping outside the city limits in Raigad and Thane. The onus is on ward officers to ensure that the work is done properly. We are working overtime to ensure that the desilting is completed before the monsoon,” said Vhatkar.

alison.saldanha@expressindia.com