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Operation drain drain: BMC mulls new approach

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Desilting of the Mithi river in progress in Kurla, ahead of the monsoon
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To keep the city's major drains always clean and flowing, the BMC is planning to change its approach to the cleaning process from next year onwards. The practice now is to undertakes de-silting works two months prior to the monsoon, and contractors remove 70 per cent of the silt. The remaining is removed during the monsoon. BMC now plans to keep cleaning the major drains throughout the year.

"The present style of working is not giving us the results we want. We tell contractors to remove a certain quantity of silt every year. Contractors achieve this target in six months, including the monsoon period. Rest of the year they sit idle. So we are pondering changing this approach," a senior civic official said.

In the new system, planned on an experimental basis, BMC will appoint contractors to clean drains in the town and suburbs. They will have to submit a report on the silt removed every month. They will also be required to appoint his/her men to curb refuse being dumped into nullahs. The contractors will have no power to fine people who dump waist though. In addition to this, the BMC will also install litter bins in nullah areas.

"The onus of removing silt and keeping vigil will be on the contractors. BMC will pay them monthly. Contractors will have to prove before us with photographic evidence that drains have been cleaned. Only if we are convinced will they be paid. This will make them accountable," the official added.

Asked if the corporation will end up paying more, he said: "We plan to ensure a competitive environment. So, it will be the contractors who quote the lowest who get the work."

Residents have welcomed the plan, but were apprehensive about its practicality. "If the corporation outsources the entire work, officials may not inspect the de-silting work, and are likely to idle away in their offices. And if the contractor is not authorised to penalise people who dump waste in nullahs, what is the deterrence"? Rohan Sawant, an Andheri resident, asked.
BMC, however, plans to appoint beat marshals to take action against those who dump waste.

Meanwhile, BMC claimed eight per cent of the silt it had planned to remove ahead of the monsoon had been removed. The work began on April 1. The corporation has a target of removing nearly 4 lakh cubic metres of silt. Of this, 70 per cent will be cleared before the monsoon. There are 38 major nullahs, like Mithi river, in the city, measuring up to 319 km. Meanwhile, ward-level de-silting of minor road-side drains has already begun.

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