As Mumbai prepares for monsoon, work is on to remove 9,79,882 metric tonnes of silt, and 7,68,362 metric tonnes (78.41%) of it has already been removed, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said in a statement. This update comes in response to BJP MLA Ashish Shelar’s remarks expressing dissatisfaction over pre-monsoon desilting of drains.

The civic body has assured that additional machinery and manpower has been deployed wherever required and works are being carried out in two shifts. “BMC is confident of achieving the set target before 31st May 2023,” the statement said.

Shelar, who is also the president of the city unit of BJP, had said that merely  25%-30% work had been done. Accompanied by MLAs, corporators and officials of BMC, he went on an inspection round of drain cleaning work in western suburbs to check ongoing work. He said that contractors appointed for the works amounting to over Rs 280 crore are close to Thackeray and Mumbaikars have no trust in them.    

Underlining transparent methods adopted at its end, the civic body said, “Pre-monsoon desilting works of the drains in the BMC area are going on properly and all its statistics, information, photographs and videos are available for the public on BMC website link- https://swd.mcgm.gov.in. The municipal administration has not engaged in any contractor favouritism. The tender process for these works has also been conducted in a transparent manner.”

It added that, “CCTV cameras monitor the sites where the silt is being dumped and the progress of the desilting too. BMC assures citizens that the tender process for desilting works has been conducted in a transparent manner and in line with the rules. Proper reports regarding the desilting works are being diligently maintained.”

The BMC has urged citizens not to throw waste in drains adding that floating waste does not indicate a lack of silt removal but poses unnecessary challenges.

The civic authority has said that while some drains have already been desilted, work is currently underway at certain locations and desilting in the remaining drains will commence shortly. Therefore, the presence of silt in a particular drain does not imply that the work has not been carried out there.