BJP leaders say not halfway to target, BMC says 78% done

After the inspection, Shelar said that only 25-30% of the project has been completed. However, the civic administration has claimed that 70-80% of the sediment removal work has been completed. Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) management stated that it has achieved 78% of its target at present and the sludge removal is being carried out in a transparent manner.

“Sediment removal work at Gazdar Bandh nallah (Santacruz) started today with JCB deployment and removal of waste piles. The cleaning of the drains in the SNDT nullah has also started recently, as grasses and shrubs can be seen growing on the algae floating in the nullah. So, we can assess that around 20-30% of the sediment removal is complete overall, whereas BMC claims that 70-80% of the task is complete,” Shelar said.

“It seems that the contractors are manipulating the figures. Despite the admin rule at BMC, we will make sure whoever was negligent is held accountable,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Municipal Commissioner and State Appointed Administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal said that 7.68 lakh metric tons (MT) of sediment has been removed so far from drains and rivers in Mumbai, which is 78% of the goal. Chahal also said that BMC has deployed additional machinery and intends to achieve the full target of its pre-monsoon work by May 31.

“Sediment cleaning in Mumbai is being carried out meticulously and the drains are being cleaned step by step. While some drains are already devastated, work is underway in certain places. Therefore, the presence of sediments in some specific drainages does not imply that work has not been done there,” Chahal said.

Chahal added that during his visits it has been observed that the residents deposit their solid waste in the drains, which generates the formation of debris and floating material. He said that while solid waste does not qualify as sediment, sediment removal does not indicate the disposal of floating solid debris that comprises plastic and thermocol.

“The civic administration has not favored any contractor. The bidding process for sediment removal was done transparently and the work order was issued in the same way,” Chahal said.