BMC wakes up late to deal with monsoon

BMC usually starts preparing for monsoon by mid March but this year it is more than a month late.

“The plans for chalking out the monsoon preparation are completed by March. Implementation procedures like issuing of the tenders, appointing the contractor and starting the task is done by the first week of April,” said a senior civic official.

The deadline for completing all preparatory work is May 31. Yet the order for the cleaning of storm water drain, road repairs, appointing new life guards at the beaches has not begun yet.

The rehabilitation work in the some of the underground storm water drain has started. But the de-silting work in the nullahs has not been flagged yet. Moreover to fill the potholes, phase-wise fixing of roads has been planned. But the tenders for the same have not been given yet.

“We have chalked out the plan for cleaning of nullahs, strengthening of underground drains and road repair. E-tendering for the storm water drain work has been issued. For roads, the tenders will be issued by next week. The task will be completed by May 31,” said additional municipal commissioner, Aseem Gupta.

Till now no efforts on reducing the drowning incidents have been adopted. No new lifeguards have been appointed. Presently, there are only 23 lifeguards, along with three instructors, on the city beaches. “We have put up ads for seven new permanent lifeguards. The posts will be filled before the monsoon,” a senior civic official said.