Mumbai: Contractors face heat over unclean nullahs

Mumbai: Engineers and contractors will face penalties if nullahs desilted in the run-up to the monsoon get clogged again during the rainy season, officials said on Thursday. The action will be decided after a proposal sent by the Storm Water Drain Department gets administrative approval.

Deadline to end of May 31

Every year the civic authorities appoint contractors to remove silt from major and minor nullahs and rivers in the city to prevent water-logging. The deadline to complete such pre-monsoon work will end on May 31. 

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde himself inspected the desilting of nullahs and rivers last week. He instructed civic authorities to monitor the progress of desilting work carried out by contractors. If the work is not being carried out as per standards, the contractors should be penalised, he said.

While inspecting nullahs in the western suburbs, the chief minister noticed that the one near Milan subway was unclean. He instructed the civic authorities to send a show cause notice to the officials responsible for its cleaning. Accordingly, a show cause notice was sent to two junior engineers of H West ward and a fine of Rs1 lakh was imposed on the contractor, a civic official said.

BMC expects cleaning to finish between June 1-10

“The desilting work of major nullahs is carried out under the supervision of sub-engineers while the work on minor drains is monitored by junior engineers. The desilting work has been completed before the deadline this year, so if any nullah is found clogged, the concerned engineer as well as the contractor will be held responsible. The proposal has been sent to the municipal commissioner, and after he okays it, action will be decided,” a source said.

Mumbaikars can register their complaints regarding unclean nullahs on the civic helpline. The BMC will ensure they get cleaned between June 1 to 10.