Mumbai: BMC crosses quarter mark of city nullah clean-up in 15-days

A nullah being cleaned before the monsoon starts. File pic/Satej Shinde

Within 15 days after the yearly desilting work started, the BMC has claimed to have completed 27 per cent of nullah cleaning by Wednesday. Out of the total, 2.78 lakh metric tonnes of silt removed, 1.23 metric tonnes (50 per cent) silt was removed only from the Mithi River. The BMC has set a target to remove 10.21 lakh metric tonnes by May end.

There are 309 major drains in Mumbai, including three rivers with an approximate total length of 290 km. The city has roughly 2,500 km of minor nullahs, including 605 km of small nullahs, 475 km of century-old underground stormwater arch drains in the south city, and roadside gutters. 11 km of Mithi River is desilted through a separate contract.

The BMC has completed 27 per cent of nullah cleaning citywide, with 24 per cent completed in the western suburbs, 27 per cent in the eastern suburbs, and just 16 per cent in the south city area. Simultaneously, the desilting of minor gutters managed through ward-level contracts, stands at 14 per cent completion.

Additionally, 57 per cent of the Mithi River cleaning has been finished, with the BMC aiming to extract 2.16 lakh tonnes of silt before the monsoon, of which 1.23 lakh tonnes have been removed as of April 10. This amount constitutes nearly half of the total silt removed from the entire city, which amounts to 2.79 lakh metric tonnes. The BMC's target is to eliminate 10.21 lakh metric tonnes of silt before the onset of the monsoon.

The corporation has appointed 31 agencies to achieve 75 per cent desalination before May 31; three for the south city, 10 for the eastern suburbs, 15 for the western suburbs, and three for the Mithi River. Fifteen per cent of the nullah cleaning will happen during the monsoon, and 10 per cent after the season ends.

1.23 metric tonnes
Amount of silt removed from Mithi River