Mumbai: BMC begins desilting work of minor drains, nullahs, Mithi river

Mumbai: The desilting work of minor drains, nullahs and the Mithi river finally commenced on Thursday, with the civic body expecting the work to be completed before the May 31 deadline as it was started earlier this year.

The BMC will also start a dashboard to track the work, but the former corporators have demanded a proper vigil.

The desilting work started in mid-April last year and got completed in the first week of June. So the BMC decided to start the pre-monsoon desilting work in March this year. Accordingly, a tender was invited in December 2022, for carrying out desilting works in the minor drains and nullahs. The work order for 31 works was issued on March 10.

"We will ensure desilting work completes on time": BMC

“The desilting work at 30 places started from Thursday, while work of one minor nullah in the western suburbs will start next week. We will ensure that the desilting work will be completed on time,” said a civic official of the stormwater drain department. According to Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects) P Velrasu, citizens will also be able to monitor the progress of desilting work through the BMC dashboard.

Meanwhile, the former Opposition leader of the BMC, Ravi Raja said, “The silt removed from the nullahs should be disposed of in a proper manner. The work should be carried out under proper vigil and so our party members will also keep a watch on the work.” Former BJP corporator Vinod Mishra said the party workers will visit sites where desilting is being carried out to check progress like they do every year.

The BMC launched a dashboard last year to monitor the progress of desilting work. The dashboard shows the percentage of work completed every day. The civic body removes 75% of silt before each monsoon, 10% during the monsoon and 15% once it subsides, as per its policy.