The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that the BMC’s desilting works are a farce. They alleged that not even 8 per cent work has been done in the city and the civic body is misguiding citizens.
Priti Sharma-Menon, AAP Mumbai president said, “After seeing the pace of work, it will not be completed before monsoon.” She added that contractors and officers of the BMC should be booked for “attempt to murder”.
According to AAP, its volunteers claimed they went to all flood-prone areas and inspected the rivers, nullahs and stormwater drains (SWDs) and found that no pre-monsoon desilting had been done.
The volunteers found that Mithi river is still choked at Jogeshwari, BKC, Bandra East and Kalina – this poses a major threat in the western suburbs. Even smaller nullahs and SWDs are still choked across the city, they said, adding that the eastern suburbs are worse off.
“The Shiv Sena government has shown complete apathy to death and devastation caused in Mumbai year after year,” Menon said, adding, “Their only interest is in looting the BMC and their utter recklessness in ignoring the pre-monsoon preparation; it is nothing short of mala fide criminal intent.”
She added that it’s time to bury the ghost of the “spirit of Mumbai” and file criminal charges against those responsible for the floods that we are inevitably going to face.”
The opposition demanded that an external independent body audits the pre-monsoon preparation and all the contractors and officers who have failed to do the work and those who have misreported the figures be charged.
