BMC has removed only 60% of silt from drains
MUMBAI: While the civic body declared on Friday that the city has been readied to face the impending monsoon, citizens and experts are sceptical about whether Mumbai will be prepared by June 7, the deadline to be rain-ready.
Stormwater drain (SWD) department norms state that 4.45 lakh cubic metres of silt should be removed from drains before the monsoon. The BMC has said it has removed just 2.67 lakh cubic metres so far, or 60% of what is required. According to norms, the BMC should complete 70% of de-silting before the monsoon, 20% during the rains and 10% after the rains.
On May 25, TOI had reported that the BMC had de-silted 50% of the major nullahs in the run-up to the monsoon. In addition, only 30% of the de-silting along the Mithi River's crucial 17.8km stretch had been completed. Just six days later, on Friday, the BMC announced that 73% of the city's drains and 60% of the Mithi River had been de-silted.
One problem area pointed out by Mumbaikars is the Irla nullah, which is connected to a pumping station and helps drain stormwater to Mithi River. "The Irla nullah on Gulmohar Road has not been de-silted or touched to date. We have written to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte. Just 15 minutes of rain could flood the whole of Juhu scheme," said Juhu resident Ashoke Pandit.
In the past, the BMC has spent Rs 17 crore to construct a retaining wall along the nullah, and widen and change its direction. Lined by hundreds of shanties, and choked by garbage thrown by slumdwellers, the nullah -- one of city's major stormwater drains -- often overflows and floods JVPD Scheme during the monsoon.
"As far as nullahs go, it's a money-making exercise. Symbolic de-silting is carried out every year," said environmentalist D Stalin of Vanashakti. "The same tall claims are made every year. In Kanjurmarg nullah, shrubs have begun growing."
Nikhil Desai, a member of the F-North Ward Citizens' Federation, said that for the past five years top BMC officials and certain politicians have been visiting nullahs and claiming that 90% of de-silting has been done and the remaining 10% will be completed by June 10. "But when the first rains arrive on June 10, there is water-logging. Their claims fall flat on the first day of rains itself. Irrespective of high tide or heavy rains, my area near Gandhi Market in Matunga gets flooded every year," he said.
The guardian minister for Mumbai's suburbs, Arif Naseem Khan, also expressed displeasure with the BMC for its slow pace of monsoon-preparedness work. "Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has reviewed the monsoon preparedness. To ensure that Mumbaikars do not face hardship, I will take stock of work on June 5th," Khan said.
Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/BMC-has-removed-only-60-of-silt-from-drains/articleshow/20389235.cms
Stormwater drain (SWD) department norms state that 4.45 lakh cubic metres of silt should be removed from drains before the monsoon. The BMC has said it has removed just 2.67 lakh cubic metres so far, or 60% of what is required. According to norms, the BMC should complete 70% of de-silting before the monsoon, 20% during the rains and 10% after the rains.
On May 25, TOI had reported that the BMC had de-silted 50% of the major nullahs in the run-up to the monsoon. In addition, only 30% of the de-silting along the Mithi River's crucial 17.8km stretch had been completed. Just six days later, on Friday, the BMC announced that 73% of the city's drains and 60% of the Mithi River had been de-silted.
One problem area pointed out by Mumbaikars is the Irla nullah, which is connected to a pumping station and helps drain stormwater to Mithi River. "The Irla nullah on Gulmohar Road has not been de-silted or touched to date. We have written to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte. Just 15 minutes of rain could flood the whole of Juhu scheme," said Juhu resident Ashoke Pandit.
In the past, the BMC has spent Rs 17 crore to construct a retaining wall along the nullah, and widen and change its direction. Lined by hundreds of shanties, and choked by garbage thrown by slumdwellers, the nullah -- one of city's major stormwater drains -- often overflows and floods JVPD Scheme during the monsoon.
"As far as nullahs go, it's a money-making exercise. Symbolic de-silting is carried out every year," said environmentalist D Stalin of Vanashakti. "The same tall claims are made every year. In Kanjurmarg nullah, shrubs have begun growing."
Nikhil Desai, a member of the F-North Ward Citizens' Federation, said that for the past five years top BMC officials and certain politicians have been visiting nullahs and claiming that 90% of de-silting has been done and the remaining 10% will be completed by June 10. "But when the first rains arrive on June 10, there is water-logging. Their claims fall flat on the first day of rains itself. Irrespective of high tide or heavy rains, my area near Gandhi Market in Matunga gets flooded every year," he said.
The guardian minister for Mumbai's suburbs, Arif Naseem Khan, also expressed displeasure with the BMC for its slow pace of monsoon-preparedness work. "Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has reviewed the monsoon preparedness. To ensure that Mumbaikars do not face hardship, I will take stock of work on June 5th," Khan said.
Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/BMC-has-removed-only-60-of-silt-from-drains/articleshow/20389235.cms