Netsol Water Solutions

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, whi

AURANGABAD: The civic body's anti-encroachment department on Saturday cleared a 600-metre long passage of a nullah between two housing societies at Garkheda Parisar. An administrative officer in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, Priyanka Kesarkar, said residents had blocked the passage of the natural nullah situtated near Shahanoormiya Dargaha, by installing concrete pipes, measuring four feet in diameter, inside it. As a result, the fifteen foot wide nullah passage was reduced to a mere four feet. On Saturday, when the AMC team when to the spot with two bulldozers, residents in the area tried to justify their actions They said the water flowing through the nullah would give out a foul smell. But the AMC team managed to convince them that narrowing the nullah would lead to water logging during the monsoon, said Kesarkar. Another AMC officer said that the residents were issued notices while the nullah was being covered that blocking the flow of water was illegal, but they had g