As the monsoon approaches, Mumbai appears to have been dealt a double whammy — several roads that were dug up are lying unrepaired, and drains meant to be outlets for rain water have not been cleaned. DNA takes a close look at the ground reality in areas across the city, revealing how unprepared the city is for monsoon
With the arrival of the monsoon barely a month away, the civic body is running against time as less than 50 per cent of de-silting work of drains across the city remains undone. These drains function as outlets through which rainwater can be let out, crucial to prevent water logging in the city.
Bhandup, which is prone to flooding and landslides during the rains, seems to be headed for another nightmare this year as well, as major drains in the area are still uncleaned.
Smaller nullahs on SBI Road in Bhandup (west) along the LBS Marg, the LBS Marg-Tank Road junction stretch, and the Village Road area witness flooding with just one to two hours of rainfall. Desilting work in smaller drains along the LBS Marg is being carried out at a snails pace. Whereas, in several places, silt that has been removed from drains has been dumped on the roads, and not been cleared for over a week.
Among the bigger nullahs, desilting work has not been completed at the Usha Nagar nullah, which connects to the smaller nullhas of Village Road. Nilesh Patil, an activist said, "Silt removed from drains are not cleared for several days and slowly, the silt again goes back into the drain." He confirmed that the work along the LBS Marg has not yet been completed.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it does not have enough contractors to transport the silt. However, they claim that desilting work will be completed before the monsoons. The civic body also pointed out that till May 13 of this year, 63.28 per cent desilting work had been completed in the city, while in 2016, only 39.5 per cent was done around this time.
However, the situation on ground reflects a different reality. Congress corporator Asha Koparkar of S-ward admits that drain cleaning work has not been completed in her ward, and that some of the drains have not even been touched. She added that going by BMC's pace, it did not look like they will manage to finish the work before the onset of monsoon.
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