Mumbai: While the BMC has been urging citizens not to dump waste in nullahs, a video surfaced on Thursday showing police officers throwing a sofa into the Dahisar river. After the footage went viral on social media, the BMC's Storm Water Drain department immediately removed the discarded sofa from the nullah.
A video posted by the X handle Citizens Speak showed a sofa dumped under the bridge near Bhimashankar Heights, close to the Dahisar fire brigade—allegedly by an irresponsible citizen. Upon receiving a complaint, Mumbai Police reportedly threw the sofa into the Dahisar river.
Following the viral video, the BMC’s SWD department, with help from local police, removed the sofa from the nullah. The civic body has advised citizens to contact the local ward office for proper waste disposal arrangements and has urged the police to coordinate with civic officials for such complaints to ensure timely and appropriate action.
When FPJ tried to contact the Dahisar police, they did not provide their version of the incident. Meanwhile, the BMC has reiterated its appeal to citizens to avoid dumping garbage or solid waste into drains, warning that it severely disrupts drainage operations and harms the environment.
Officials remain concerned about the continued disposal of bulky items like furniture, cupboards, and sofas—especially in slum areas. To tackle this, the SWD department had conducted a pilot project in December 2023, installing steel nets on nullahs at P&T Colony in Bandra West. Encouraged by the positive results, the BMC now plans to expand the initiative to other vulnerable nullahs, particularly near slums and chawls.
Over the years, the civic body has introduced several measures to curb dumping in nullahs—such as placing dustbins along drains, covering them with nets, running awareness campaigns, appointing clean-up marshals, and imposing fines on violators.
Clogged drains—mainly due to plastic bags—were among the key contributors to the catastrophic 26/7 floods in 2005, which claimed over 1,000 lives. Mumbai currently has 309 major nullahs and 1,508 minor nullahs across the city.
