Floating disaster

A flooded Andheri subway on Saturday

Activists have flayed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for not taking responsibility when it comes to eliminating floating trash from nullahs. The civic body admitted that the massive waterlogging witnessed at Andheri subway on Saturday was due to these items.

According to activists, if the civic authorities had taken early action and cleaned the nullahs properly, the dire situation could have been avoided. The BMC claimed that a 165-litre fridge along with cupboards, beds, tarpaulins and rubber pipes, among other items, choked the flow of Mogra nullah near Andheri subway, which led to flooding on Saturday.

421 complaints in 11 days

The BMC had firmly stated that none of the complaints received by its WhatsApp chatbot number for registering complaints about filthy nullahs is related to improper desilting. The chatbot received 421 complaints between June 1 and 11.

Garbage floating in Mogra nullah near Andheri subway on Saturday

The stormwater department, which is responsible for desilting major nullahs, clarified that less than one-third of the complaints (129) were related to their department. The rest (concerning minor nullahs and roadside gutters) were reassigned to ward offices, but complainants do not know whether or not their issues have been resolved. Additionally, the majority of complaints pertain to garbage and floating material.

‘Start inquiry'

Anil Galgali, an activist, said that the BMC is always defensive when someone points out nullahs are unclean and it claims that it is just floating materials and that desilting had been done properly. "If officials visited the site, they must have seen the fridge, sofas which choked the Andheri subway on Saturday. The BMC should start an inquiry to find out where the fridge came from and file an FIR," he said.

He added, "Had BMC officials visited the drain before the rains arrived, they would have seen the fridge and other large floating materials there and the flooding could have been avoided." Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited Milan subway, which wasn't flooded on Saturday, on Sunday - but did not visit Andheri subway. Andheri residents were looking forward to the visit.

Dhaval Shah, founder of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association, said, "There are various issues related to the flooding at Andheri subway and just building a pit and dewatering pump won't solve the issue. The subway is around two feet below other roads and all the water flows into it. Besides, the drainage capacity has to be increased."

Corruption allegation

Godfrey Pimenta, from Watchdog Foundation, trashed the claims made by the BMC with regard to monsoon preparedness. "Many low-lying areas in the city experienced heavy flooding. No amount of explanation will work. Creating a complaint mechanism rarely helps. The BMC always points at floating materials if someone shows them unclean nullahs. It is all rubbish, and corruption is well-entrenched in the system," he said.

After visiting the subway site, Additional Commissioner P Velrasu instructed the officials concerned to take the necessary measures to avoid such a situation in the future. He also mentioned that the present pumping arrangement for the drainage of rainwater is a temporary one and long-term measures will be implemented before the next monsoon. He did not reply to mid-day on the floating material query.

An official from the stormwater drain department said that they had requested that solid waste be collected from nullahs through contractors. "If they are not willing to appoint them, maybe we will give separate contracts or include it in the desilting contracts from next year," the official said.

421
No of complaints received by chatbot in early June