Corporators hit out at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the sluggish pace of nullah desilting ahead of the monsoon in Wednesday’s standing committee meeting. The Shiv Sena too joined them, saying barely any work has been done in this regard.
The BMC has, by its own admission, said it has completed only about 32% desilting work by April 30.
In Wednesday’s committee meeting, Leader of Opposition Ravi Raja took a point of order regarding the matter. “Desilting has been going on for a month now, despite which there is silt in most nullahs. Even the Mayor’s ward has nullahs choked with silt. The BMC is using the model code of conduct as an excuse to save contractors from a backlash,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Kotak did not buy the code-of-conduct reasoning either. “What has desilting to do with code of conduct? If we wait till May 23, how will desilting be complete before monsoon?”
Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh said Mumbai was already struggling with Metro work, and the BMC should ensure that debris does not choke the city’s stormwater drains.
“In the E ward, the state of roads and nullahs is poor and they will be prone to flooding this year as well. The BMC will be responsible for it,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader Vishakha Raut said, “Despite a month having passed, we don’t see much progress in desilting. We are barely managing to stay on schedule. In most spots, the silt is lying on the roadside. What is the progress of Chamdawadi nullah? And what happened to the robots that were supposed to be used?”
On Wednesday, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar visited several desilting spots in the western suburbs to take stock. He directed the administration to expedite work and also appealed to people not to dump trash in nullahs as it hinders the flow of water.
BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly Ashish Shelar, who had also visited desilting works recently, met the municipal commissioner on Wednesday. He has demanded that the BMC share details of desilting work, ensure close co-ordination with the Railways and record thedesilting work on video.