So far, 60 per cent of the nullah desilting and dredging is complete, according to the official line. But when Newsline visited ground zero to check the authenticity of the claims, the scene was one of floating material, garbage blocking the flow of water, debris of silt collected on the sides of the nullah and at certain places no cleaning activity underway at all.
Poisar Nullah near Gaondevi in Kandivli
This drain resembles a sewer tract. Garbage, including polythene bags, glass and plastic bottles and thermocol pieces, obstructs the flow of water. Hardly 10 per cent of the nullah’s width is available to drain out rain water. A local resident, Jaravati Singh, said: “No big trucks or big machines have come here to clean this nullah for the past one year. The last time the BMC cleaned it was in June 2007, before the monsoon.
BMC officials came a few days ago, but no work was done.”
Near Poisar Subway
Along this stretch, residents claimed that no cleaning could be done since the approach road is inaccessible for the dredging machines.
“On July 26, 2005, up to 10 feet of water entered our houses. Since cleaning is done manually by labourers, the silt cannot really be removed,” said a resident, Sudha Tripathi. Both these stretches are so full of garbage that stray dogs were found walking on the banks, searching for food.
Malvani Nullah, near Laljipada
The condition is the same at Malvani Nullah, 60 per cent choked with garbage.
Local resident Eijaz Shiekh said: “The nullah has never been cleaned. During every monsoon, the water flows into nearby structures.” At many places, including Oshiwara Nullah, no labourer or contractor was seen at the site.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Niyaz Wanu said he was worried about the possibility of floods in his area, Antop Hill. “Not even 25 per cent of the work is complete.
Cleaning at all the major nullahs in my area, including Sheikh Mistri, JK Chemicals, Sangam Nagar and Nityanand Nagar have not been completed so far.
These drains are sure to overflow this year and inundate the Central Government Servants colony as well as the slum areas,” he said.
Although corporators themselves have slammed the civic administration on nullah cleaning, stating that not even 30 per cent of the work seems to have been completed, civic officials are confident they will handle the monsoons effectively.
“The team of corporators visiting the nullahs might have visited those stretches that have not been cleaned so far,” said Municipal Com missioner Jairaj Phatak on Friday.
Chief Engineer (Storm Water Drains) S S Korlekar said the nullah-cleaning would be completed by May 31, the deadline for the premonsoon preparedness of various departments. “We have undertaken detailed programmes for cleaning and desilting. Of the total 329 km of nullahs, around 250 km has been completed,” he said. When asked about stretches full of floating material and where no labourers were observed, he said that these places would be cleaned by the monthend, as per the scheduled cleaning programme.
Korlekar also blamed the encroached banks of the drains for narrowing the width of the crucial waterways. “Nullah cleaning is a continuous process and is carried in three phases during, after and before the monsoon. The floating material will keep on appearing but we will remove it during desilting while the monsoon is underway. So there should be no problem of flooding,” he said.
URL: http://epaper.indianexpress.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=20_05_2008_521_005&typ=1&pub=320