Aaditya Thackeray (File)Mumbai is prepared for the upcoming monsoon, state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Thursday. But he also said that this monsoon season, the city could face extreme rainfall and flash floods, considering the extreme winter and summer.
The minister on Thursday held a review meeting on pre-monsoon preparations in the city on issues like road repairs, tree trimming and nullah cleaning.
“We are prepared for the monsoon but the city may face extreme rainfall and flash floods. If it rains more than 200mm in an hour, then the city will face water-logging. However, our nullah desilting work is going well and in case of floods, receding of rainwater will be quicker.
The BMC will also station more than 480 pumping stations at flooding spots,” Thackeray said while speaking to mediapersons at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarter.
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“The BMC has addressed about 90% of flooding spots in the city. Now, I have also instructed ward officers to visit their respective areas to keep check on new flooding spots,” said Thackeray. The BMC had identified 380 flooding spots in the city.
Thackeray said the BMC has so far completed 78% of nullah desilting work and the remaining work will be finished within the deadline. When asked about nullah cleaning not being carried out in two shifts in some locations, Thackeray said there are people living along the nullah and that’s why the BMC was not able to carry out desilting work in two shifts.
“We have been taking a review meeting with all agencies for pre-monsoon works. There is a lot of infrastructure work going on in the city so coordination will help in tackling the challenges,” said Thackeray.
On people living in landslide-prone areas, the minister said, “We have disbursed fund of Rs 62 crore for landslide mitigation work. The only solution to such an unfortunate incident is to relocate the people living in these landslide-prone areas. However, it will take some time as there is a shortage of housing units.
In the next three years, we are going to create 30,000 housing units for PAP (project affected people),” he said.
On BJP’s allegation of shoddy nullah cleaning work, Thackeray said he will not reply to criticism from the BJP but accept their suggestions. “If they have any constructive suggestions, we will definitely incorporate them,” he said.
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