With monsoons just around the corner, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has chalked out an elaborate plan to tackle any eventualities under its disaster preparedness initiatives. Apart from setting up a round-the-clock disaster management control room (022-28117102, 022-28117104, 8657949715 and 829137013) to tend to complaints or passing information on any impending danger, dewatering pumps of adequate capacity have been made available at low-lying spots prone to waterlogging-especially during the high tides.
Stressing upon the need and importance of readiness, civic chief-Sanjay Katkar has issued standing instructions to all relevant and concerned departments to ensure proper communication while undertaking necessary measures for disaster management and pre-monsoon preparedness so that citizens, motorists and pedestrians do not face any kind of hardships. Notably, the civic administration has also prepared a comprehensive disaster management diary, detailing all essential resources available along with crucial information such as availability of manpower, machinery, contact numbers of key nodal officers and other staffers to assist during crisis situations.
To facilitate unhindered water flow, the civic administration has trained its attention on the proper and timely desilting of around 155 major and minor nullahs in the twin-city which measure up to more than 240 km’s. The Tree Authority has embarked on an extensive tree pruning exercise. While 37 dangerous trees have already been removed another 34 will face the axe soon. The MBMC has urged citizens to prune dangerous trees within private societies with prior permission from the MBMC. Structural audits of 520 out of 1,648 seemingly dangerous buildings have been conducted and the process to audit the remaining has been expedited.
Efforts are being made at a war footing to evacuate and demolish buildings which have been classified under the C-1 category before the monsoon. Beds in municipal hospitals are kept ready with 24-hour availability during emergencies and treatment will be facilitated in other private hospitals if necessary, officials said.
Citizens Skeptical on Fate of Incomplete Roadworks.
A major cause of worry for the MBMC is the incomplete construction work of cement-concrete roads at various spots across the twin-city which can turn into potential threats during heavy rains. However, the civic administration claims that the contractors have been directed to take preventive measures to avoid any untoward incidents.
Roads excavated for laying water supply pipelines are being restored with gravel and asphalt on a war footing. However, citizens are skeptical about the claims regarding timely completion of CC roads which have remained half-baked at most of the sites for several months. The MBMC had recently imposed fines on contractors for compromising on quality in various ongoing developmental works in the twin-city.
