In preparations of monsoons the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has approved proposals worth Rs 545 Cr for desilting of stormwater drains and reinstating trenching along roads.

In a statement on Thursday, the civic body said that a total of 30 proposals worth Rs 545 crore have been given administrative approval. Out of these 23 proposals worth Rs 162 crore are for desilting of stormwater drains and the remaining proposals at the cost of Rs 383 crore are for reinstating of  trenches that have been dug up for various utilities.

“A total of six tenders have been sanctioned for large nallas and 17 tenders have been approved for large nallas. Of these, 2 tenders have been sanctioned for urban areas, 6 for eastern suburbs and 9 for works in western suburbs. In other words, proposals worth about Rs 162 crore for removal of silt from large and small nallas have been approved by the administrator,” the statement said.

For reclamation of trenches dug up to lay cables etc for various utilities, BMC has approved 7 tenders for each constituency and their combined value is Rs 383 crore. “With the approval to appoint contractors to remove silt from nallas and recharge of variables for a period of three years the work will be started immediately by giving work orders to the utility organizations,” BMC said.

Earlier in the day, the opposition BJP criticised the civic body for sitting on proposals for pre-monsoon work. BJP said contractors will have a mere 1.5 months to complete pre-monsoon work which is to be completed before June every year.

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar had met municipal commissioner and administrator, I S Chahal and demanded that work on monsoon preparedness should start immediately across Mumbai.

Against the backdrop of delayed civic polls due to a legal tangle over Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation and after the tenure of the elected corprorators expired on March 7, the Maharashtra cabinet appointed BMC commissioner IS Chahal as administrator. It is after 38 years, since 1984, that the largest civic corporation in the country began functioning under an administrator to oversee daily work of the municipal corporation.