Mumbai: BMC exceeds desilting targets but monsoon challenges persist

BMC workers remove plastic garbage from the nullah outside Bandra railway station. Pic/Satej Shinde

Despite having removed 100 per cent of the estimated silt from nullahs, the desilting process continues, to ensure that the drains can handle rainwater during heavy spells. The BMC began desilting in the first week of April with a target of 10.17 lakh metric tonnes, and by May 27, over 108 per cent of this amount had been removed from major and minor nullahs, rivers, and drains along highways.

The BMC extracted 11 lakh metric tons of trash and silt, with the largest amount, 2.40 lakh metric tonnes, removed from western major nullahs. Following the transfer of highways from MMRDA, the BMC also started cleaning drains along the highways, removing 62,565 metric tons of silt from these areas.

Although the BMC is close to completing the removal of 100 per cent of the estimated silt from nullahs, every year the first heavy spell of rain reveals that the cleaning is insufficient. "Desilting has been based on the quantity of silt, which has been a measurement indicator for decades.

However, sometimes removing silt from one area meets the estimated quantity but does not clear the entire stretch or adequately maintain water flow. Therefore, we have instructed that the task should be completed by measuring the silt and ensuring the entire stretch is clear.

Ongoing surveillance should be maintained to keep the areas clean until the onset of monsoon and throughout the rainy season," said a senior official of the BMC. In addition to clearing the entry points of nullahs, we have also focussed on clearing all drains, and nullahs in a radius of 50 meters around flooding spots. It will make sure that the water from the area will flow uninterruptedly.

2.15 lakh tons of silt has been removed from the Mithi river till Monday, which is almost 20 per cent of the entire silt quantity across all the city's nullahs, rivers, drains, and gutters. The quantity of silt removed from the 11 km stretch of the Mithi river is equal to that of the entire major nullah network of western suburbs. The network of major nullahs in the western suburbs is approximately 146 km and 2.40 lakh tonnes of waste has been removed from them.