Only 29% silt removed from Mithi river

Less than three weeks to go for the May 31 deadline to ready the city for the monsoon, the BMC is struggling to cope. The desilting of the Mithi river is just 29% complete, new Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal found during a review of the cleaning work in the river and other major nullahs in the city.

Mr. Chahal asked for more machinery and manpower to be deployed, while officials blamed the lockdown, shortage of labourers and the need to maintain physical distancing for the slow pace of work.

The 21-km Mithi river is supposed to be cleared of silt before every monsoon. The BMC is to remove 98,500 metric tonnes of silt from the river but has managed to clear only 26,118 metric tonnes or 29% so far.