HC gives state 15 days to complete Mithi clean-up

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has ordered the state government to finish all remaining work on the Mithi river clean-up by June 28. This order comes after the government failed to meet the June 5 deadline of cleaning up silt in the river and widening its mouth to 100 feet.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) after last year’s 26/7 deluge, asking the government to clean up the Mithi, which flooded areas like Santacruz, Vakola and Andheri.

The government claimed that around 80% of the work has been done, but photographs of the area taken by the petitioner this morning showed that only 50-60% of the work is complete and encroachments, which were removed, have also come back.

The court has ordered the authorities to deploy police in the area to restrain encroachers from setting up their houses or commercial concerns in the area. Over 50% of work is still incomplete on the stretch between the Santacruz airport and CST road, which falls under the jurisdiction of the BMC; and from CST road to the Bandra-Kurla area, which is under the MMRDA.

Till June 5, a total of 12,16,340 cubic metres of silt and debris were removed by the MMRDA and the BMC, as per the Mithi River Development and Protection Authority (MRDPA). The MMRDA also excavated a rock of about 7,000 cu m, which resulted in increasing the velocity of water flow by about 40%, thereby improving flushing capacity, an MRDPA statement said.

The Mithi River authority also claims to have successfully rehabilitated 2,577 project-affected households at Tunga village and Turbhe Mandale, of which 2,201 were residential units and 376 were commercial concerns, with the help of MMRDA.