Many smaller drains still choked

MUMBAI: Their protection walls broken, silt lying on the side and at several places waste floating on the surface. A vast portion of the suburban drain network-especially minor nullahs-is a reflection of apathy and neglect.
Senior civic officials, including municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar, scurried to take stock of the cleaning work on Friday. The team visited at least 25 nullahs and maintained an official version through the day - work was satisfactory and has moved at an acceptable pace.
The hurriedly prepared report card, though, was a far cry from reality, and de-silting was far from complete; it was found stuck at several chronic water-logging spots, especially minor drains and water entrances that serve as vital arteries to the bigger and wider nullahs.
At Malwani, Valani, Shivaji Nagar, Madh, certain areas of Jogeshwari and Andheri, and Oshiwara, at least 150 internal drains are choked with plastic and waste. A similar sight greets passers-by at eastern suburbs' Nehru Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Usha Nagar and Kranti Nagar.
"There is no doubt that BMC has done a decent job of drain cleaning work this year, but the fact is that internal drains have not been touched at all. At Malad, 150 such drains have not been cleaned just because BMC could not afford to pay labourers Rs 200 a day. There is a massive shortage of manpower and machinery," said local MLA Aslam Shaikh.
The BMC annually spends Rs 50 crore to widen and de-silt 3,000 km of drain network, but ends up doing a shoddy job of cleaning smaller drains. This could be attributed to a number of factors, primarily accessibility and manpower shortage.
"At bigger drains, the retaining walls are broken for machines to enter, but they are never reconstructed for years, and even silt is left lying on the sides for days. At the smaller ones, the authorities have no control because it is difficult for the machinery to enter. What is the point of doing this kind of work?" asked Santa Cruz corporator Abdul Aziz Barudgar.
On an average, there are 40 minor nullahs in each of the 24 civic wards. "Overall, we have completed 98% of the drain work, including the smaller ones. But there is no doubt our reach is limited when it comes to smaller drains," said an official.