Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who visited the sites of nullah and river desilting works on Tuesday, has claimed that there would not be any waterlogging in the city during this year’s monsoon. However, civic activists have questioned his assurances, pointing out that despite his visits, shoddy work and corruption among contractors and civic officials have been going on unabated for several years.
The Sena chief, along with his son Adityaa and top civic officials including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Ajoy Mehta, reviewed desilting works of Mithi river, Vakola river, Irla nullah and Walbhat river in the city. He claimed that waterlogging problems across the city were declining due to improvement in desilting works.
“I have been visiting the sites of desilting works for the last 20 years. During this period, city nullahs have been widened. Retaining walls have also been constructed on them. But Mumbai’s geographical features are such that there are several low-lying areas, which are below sea level. We are setting up pumping stations to discharge water from these areas during the monsoon,” said Mr Thackeray.
“Flooding happens not only in Mumbai, but also in other cities like Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad. So I am not interested in the percentage of how much silt has been removed from nullahs. We just want to ensure that there is no waterlogging in Mumbai like the last year. Whatever works needed to be carried out before the monsoon will be done on time,” he added. However, civic activists have alleged that such exercises are futile as they have failed to stop irregularities in desilting works. “Every year, Mr Thackeray visits the sites of nullah cleaning works in the city. I don’t understand how anybody’s visit can improve the work… Instead they (visits) disturb such activities. The desilting scam broke out couple of years back just after Uddhav’s visits. It is just an eyewash.
He should have undertaken these visits between January and February,” said James John from AGNI. “Every year several parts of the city go underwater despite the BMC spending crores of rupees on desilting works. These activities over the years have become an easy way to mint money in the civic body,” alleged activist Godfrey Parreira from the Watchdog Foundation.
In 2015, the BMC had spent Rs 100 crore on the cleaning of Mithi river and major nullahs, whereas it will be spending Rs 80 crore on their desilting works this year. The civic body is expected to remove 1.73 lakh metric tonnes of waste before monsoon starts by the middle of June.
The BMC has claimed to have completed 45 per cent of the desilting works as of now.
