Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to prepare a detailed plan to ensure that no untreated sewage is allowed to enter into Mumbai’s rivers. In a meeting on Saturday with citizens group River March, which is campaigning for river revival, he asked the BMC to notify these water bodies and their tributaries (called nullahs) as rivers.
Calling it a shot in the arm for their movement, founder of River March, Gopal Jhaveri said that the meeting helped them raise relevant issues with Fadnavis.
Jhaveri said, in the meeting, the CM asked the BMC to speed up river re-examination efforts. “We have been raising the issue of pollution entering Dahisar river from Dhobi Ghat and sewer lines of residential areas and slums along the river. The CM asked Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta to work out feasibility reports for a treatment plant at Dhobi Ghat and sewage treatment plants at other locations along Dahisar river,” he said.
On June 21, CM’s wife Amruta Fadnavis also visited the Dahisar and Poisar rivers and voiced the need to reclaim them.
The meeting was organised by BJP leader Vikram Chogle and attended by various high-ranking BMC officials.
Tejas Shah, a volunteer with River March, who raised the issue of concretisation of the river beds and embankments at Dahisar and Poisar rivers, said the Municipal Commissioner’s turn around at the meet surprised him. “No BMC official was willing to listen to us when we were protesting. But in the meeting with the CM, the Municipal Commissioner showed concern over concretisation,” he told DNA.
A senior BMC official informed that officials had visited Dahisar river, and were considering measures to stop waste water from entering the river from various sources.
...& ANALYSIS
- The CM has directed the BMC to find an alternative for environment-friendly options instead of concretisation to maintain healthy water tables The head of the State echoing sentiments to save the rivers that the BMC that has been neglecting for a long time could finally help save the rivers
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 "Devendra Fadnavis")
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