The Brihannumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started uploading details on ongoing desilting of nullahs on its website. Besides checking the work progress, residents can also file a complaint about uncleaned nullahs. The system went online Friday.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Infrastructure) Ulhas Mahale said this will bring transparency in the work. “Residents can see real-time updates of desilting work on the website and on their mobile phones. By entering the name of the nullah and area information, the progress of the work can be seen. The website will also show details like quantity removed, photos and videos,” said Mahale on Friday while addressing a press conference.
The website will also display graphs, details on silt carrying trucks such as how many and how often they are deployed, manpower and machinery being used for the desilting work. The updates can be seen on https://swd.mcgm.gov.in/wms2022.
The BMC has faced criticism over delay in cleaning nullahs. The BJP had demanded that a special squad be formed to keep track of the progress in cleaning nullahs. This year, the BMC has set target of removing 4.67 lakh tonne silt from nullahs.
According to the infrastructure department, there are five rivers and 309 major nullahs across Mumbai. While major nullahs have a total length of 290 km, there are 508 minor nullahs totalling 605 km. Apart from these, the city also has 2,004-km-long small side drains and gutters.
So far, the BMC has completed desilting work in 45 per cent nullahs and the remaining work will be completed by May 15, officials said.
This year, the BMC approved nullah cleaning proposals worth Rs 162 crore.