Mumbai: NGOs step in to keep Mithi river clean

Mumbai: The onus of keeping the Mithi river clean is on citizens. Despite the BMC desilting this chronic cause for flooding in the city during monsoon, people hardly exercise restraint in throwing garbage in nullahs near it. To curb the menace, from May 17, the civic body will train NGOs and local groups, who will further convince citizens and create awareness about the merits of water bodies, especially in cities.

The 17.8-km-long Mithi river originates from Vihar Lake in Borivali and flows into the Arabian Sea from Mahim creek. Of this, 11.84 km comes under the BMC’s jurisdiction, while the remaining 6 km is under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Every monsoon, the river overflows, resulting in severe flooding in low-lying areas like Sion, Chunabhatti, Kurla and Ghatkopar, further disrupting suburban train services.

The BMC will install 28 floodgates in the river, besides undertaking rejuvenation, beautification and flood control measures. A civic official said, “But there are several slums along the bank of this river, so a lot of garbage is being continuously dumped into the river.” For this, the BMC is starting its ‘Mission Zero garbage’ with the aim to create awareness and turn wet waste from the slums into compost. The project will also be extended to nullahs across the city, said an official from the solid waste management department.