Newly Appointed BMC Chief Begins Pre-Monsoon Preparedness Assessment

Mumbai has already begun preparing for the monsoon season. Bhushan Gagrani, the newly appointed administrator and commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), recently conducted a survey to check the city's preparations for the upcoming monsoon.

Gagrani, who took charge on March 20, visited the eastern suburbs of Chembur, Bhandup, Ghatkopar, and Nahur. These areas are known for their low-lying terrain, making them vulnerable during the monsoon. The visit marked the start of the city's pre-monsoon desilting operations, which started on April 1.

Gagrani has set a strict deadline of May 31 for the completion of the desilting work. This is to make sure that the water bodies remain free blocks during the monsoon. He also instructed the civic authorities to construct retaining walls and remove encroachments between Bhandup and Nahur railway lines.

The BMC has allocated INR 249 crore for the desilting and has hired 31 companies for the task. 13.1 crore metric tonnes of silt over the course of the next year. The desilting operations will be carried out by 15 agencies in the western suburbs, ten in the eastern suburbs, and three in the island city. Three additional organisations have been specifically tasked with desilting the Mithi River. 

The Mithi River, one of the city's major water bodies, has already had 54.57 metric tonnes of silt removed. The civic body aims to clear a total of 13.1 million metric tonnes of sludge from the city's water bodies. Of this, about 10.2 crore metric tonnes will be removed before the onset of the monsoon in May 2024, and 1.57 lakh metric tonnes will be removed during the monsoon. From October 2024 to March 2025, an additional 1.32 lakh metric tonnes of silt will be removed.

In addition to desilting, the BMC has installed high-speed dewatering pumps at over 200 locations across the city. The corporation has also reached out to various planning agencies, including the MMRDA, PWD, and Railways, urging them to expedite their pre-monsoon preparations.

For the unversed, desilting involves removing silt, mud, and other sediments from the city's water bodies. These sediments can block the flow of water. It leads to overflows and waterlogging during heavy rains.