BMC’s desilting claims fail to allay fears

Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared that its pre-monsoon nullah desilting work is complete, there is no respite from fears that the nullahs might choke up during the rains. Senior civic officials have attributed the garbage in the nullahs to carelessness of residents who continue to throw waste and plastic, even as the BMC cleans and desilts nullahs periodically.

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, “There is no way we can control this menace. The boundaries of our nullahs are too long to assign regular patrolling on them. We cannot lawfully fine residents for throwing garbage in the water body. We will continue to clean the nullahs as they get dirty.”

As the only option available, the BMC will now start an awareness drive by the end of this week via newspaper and television advertorials and door-to-door campaigns.

A senior civic official said, “We have also taken away open bins in slum areas and will collect garbage door to door, so as to eliminate the source of open garbage entirely.”