Mumbaikars will have to face severe hardships due to waterlogging as the BMC is yet to the complete desilting of drains.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation may be making tall claims about Mumbai being prepared for the monsoon but the manner in which the slow-paced movement of desilting the Mithi river and road construction work is happening raises questions about its efficiency. Every year the city witnesses heavy water-logging on account of poor drainage system and choked nullahs. Flooding was witnessed in several residential areas of the city and arterial roads during heavy tide.
If heavy rains lash the city then it will cause huge inconvenice to commuters due to late running of trains and cancellations of some suburban train services. Potholes are visible in several areas of the city as the civic body has not repaired the roads. Last year many people had lost their lives on account of the potholed roads. Are we going to see repeat of such mishaps this year too? Citizens will have to bear on account of the lackadaisical attitude of the civic body officials.
Due to shortage of manpower on account of Lok Sabha elections, the BMC started the usual monsoon routine like desilting the Mithi river and road construction much later with most of the work still unfinished.
Rais Shaikh, member of the Standing Committee, said, “We should have planned out in December. Execution and supervision itself is a problem in the BMC.”
Suhas Kadam a Kandivali resident working in a private firm said, “Every year Mumbaikars have to face severe hardships due to waterlogging and potholed roads. Why is the BMC not worried about completing the work before the arrival of monsoon?”
Anil Shah a business man from Borivali said, “Monsoon brings the city to a standstill every year and this time too the scenario will be no different. The civic body is simply wasting the tax-payers hard earned money due to the substandard work performed by it.”
Money has never been a problem for the cash rich BMC for undertaking the pre-monsoon work. The civic body has allocated Rs 1,400 for road construction and another Rs 60 crore will be spent in each municipal zone for pothole repair. For trench filling, the BMC will be spending around Rs 20 crore. Surprisingly, no money is being spent on health camps.
On the other hand, the Shiv Sena-BJP ruled BMC says that it is ready to tackle any eventualities during the monsoon.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said, “I am always working to ensure that the lives of Mumbaikars get better.”
Rais Shaikh, member of standing committee said, “Fifty percent of the road construction has yet not started and the drains have not been clean. This year will be worst considering no work has been done.”
It’s almost become a scripted monsoon for Mumbaikars given the fact that little has been done by the civic body. It was evident by the waterlogged roads on a high tide day even when there was no rain.
