Mithi river to be cleaned up within 2 years: Ramdas Kadam

Mumbai: The state environment minister Ramdas Kadam Saturday announced that the entire stretch of the Mithi river will be completely rejuvenated in the next two years. He said that this year, Mumbai was unlikely to get clogged by flood waters during the monsoon as many stretches along the Mithi river had been widened.

Mr Kadam, along with Yuva Sena Aaditya Thackeray, drew a comparison between the condition of the Mithi river back in 2005 and in 2017, highlighting the progress of the river widening work and construction of five bridges over the entire river stretch. “In the next two years, we believe the Mithi will be clean as the work will be entirely completed. Since the last four years, work on the polluted river has progressed at a good speed and Mumbai will be safe from flooding from the river in future,” he said.

The entire Mithi river rejuvenation project is expected to cost Rs 2,136 crores. The project includes laying sewer lines across the Mithi river; sewage treatment plants along both banks; and around 12 bridges over the entire river stretch, of which five have been completed. The state has also proposed creating check dams at a cost of Rs 100 crores to prevent overflowing of the river due to tidal water and a ten-feet-long green fencing on both sides at a cost of Rs 30 crores.

A swathe of hutments along the river stretch was found to pose a threat to the clean-up and rejuvenation work. According to the state environment ministry, around 4,388 out of the 5,000 huts had been removed till now. Mr Thackeray, too remarked that citizens' movement along with rejuvenation work carried out by government bodies was the need of the hour to free the Mithi of pollution. en able to make such huge progress.