Mumbai’s Pre-Monsoon Work Delayed, Slums Neglected Entirely

Was the Rs 110-crore drain cleaning budget allotted only for Mumbai’s top localities?

An ‘above normal’ rainfall is predicted for Mumbai this year. Keeping that in mind, The Quint follows up on the BMC’s self-imposed deadline for cleaning drains, nullahs and the Mithi river by 5 June. A quick look at the Gyaneshwar Nagar slum plot in Bandra (East) from across the Mithi river shows that there is little or no protection from flooding and diseases for the residents, this monsoon. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

With four days to go until monsoon officially arrives in Mumbai, the city has its fingers crossed. They’ll take anything, but a repeat of the horrid 2005 floods. Everyone simply refers to the deluge as 26 July – when the drainage, sewage and road infrastructure of the city of dreams crumpled under the weight of a record-high 944 mm of rain within 24 hours.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is geared up to get Mumbai ready by the time the first rains hit – or so they say. After last year’s contemptible desilting scam, where 24 contractors, awarded the task of cleaning the nullahs of silt and debris, were caught inflating their charges to the tune of Rs 150 crore, the BMC seemed eager to prove a point. They set 31 May as a deadline to complete 60 percent of the desilting and cleaning work; it got postponed to 5 June as by then they had only completed 80 percent of that 60 percent they were supposed to complete.

The Quint ventured into the city’s crevices, far from the bougainvillea-lined trees of Bandra and bustling South Mumbai, to see how much the BMC had achieved two days past its deadline.

Silt, debris and muck coagulate the Mithi river as it flows between Bharat Nagar and Gyaneshwar Nagar in Bandra (East) – both hidden slums populated by menial labourers employed in the nearby swanky Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), which itself was developed by destroying acres of natural mangrove swamps. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

“Our houses, beds, cupboards, clothes and utensils were washed away on 26 July; the government gave us Rs 5,000 for the damages and showed us the door. What do you get in Mumbai for that amount?”complained Mohd Yusuf, a resident of Bharat Nagar.

A drain cleaner on his first day of fishing out debris and plastic from a drain in Bharat Nagar, Bandra (East). Not willing to be named, he mentioned he was put on the job only that day; thousands of people like him stand in open, toxic drains for hours without any safety equipment and suffer from severe diseases, resulting in death in some cases. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

The Mithi river, as seen from a bridge in Bandra (East), with a water pipeline running above it in the distance. It originally served a crucial role as a storm-water drain; with waste piling up for years now, any rainfall above normal spills over along with the muck, into nearby slums. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

“It’s funny how it is called Mithi (sweet), but it actually is just black water. Our kids play here, can you believe it? But what is there to do?” scoffs Yusuf.

The mouth of a drain congested with garbage thrown out on a daily basis by residents of Gyaneshwar Nagar, Bandra (East). With lanes too narrow for erratic garbage trucks to enter, and designated dumping stops having filled up months ago, the residents do the next most convenient thing – they throw their domestic waste into the drains and the river. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

“They should make a tall boundary wall around the river, or at least a fence. That way people won’t throw garbage into the river, and our kids will be safer playing along this filthy river,” suggests Shashi, a resident of Gyaneshwar Nagar.

Desilting underway at the Mithi river bank in Gyaneshwar Nagar, Bandra (East). The contractor, not willing to be named, confirmed he had begun work on this 2-km stretch of the river from Bandra to Vakola only two days ago, and it would take at least four to five weeks to finish the MMRD-assigned job. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

Another desilting scam is rumoured to be underway, where contractors are adding silt and debris to the drains and the river, only to come and clean it up later. This increases the total weight of garbage removed, thereby increasing the price they are paid.

This is a common sight after drain cleaning – solid trash is removed from the drains, and left right next to it, in the open. This drain in Jai Bharat Society, Khar (West) was cleaned last week. During rainfall, the rubbish would flow right back into the drain and clog it. This is how the area floods almost every year. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

The drain along the Khar pipeline, next to the pristine Bandra Terminus is so polluted, it is virtually invisible. Hundreds of small garment manufacturers in the area dispose their waste here. The workers live in nearby slums (tin houses above) and dump their domestic trash here; passersby throw plastic and urinate through the day. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

This is another drain in Khar – its mouth choked with kilos of waste cloth, plastic, metal and sewage. With only three feet of the boundary wall left for water to rise and overflow, electricity wires hang dangerously low. Locals confirm no effort has been made to clean up this area this year. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

Water clogging began along the Khar pipeline drain with light showers last week. Saturated garbage trucks spilled their trash onto the roads, which mixed with rain water and sewage, took up almost half of the width of the road. This led to hour-long traffic jams. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

Ironically located at stone’s throw from the BMC’s ward office near Kherwadi highway, this closed drain remains neglected. Silt and sewage has colleced over stagnant water. A broken cover has led to a dangerous breeding of mosquitoes inside. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

Cleaning underway under the supervision of a team of four in the posh locality of Hill Road, Bandra (West). Other areas where BMC has achieved its targets are Mt. Saint Mary’s, (Bandra), Juhu Circle, the area around Bandra Gymkhana, and along the Juhu-Versova link road. (Photo: The Quint/Pallavi Prasad)

“What they say in the news about cleaning only includes areas for the rich. No one even comes here, until a minister takes it up for a short while. Our houses fill up with sewage, our kids are hospitalised with infections, but their cars shouldn’t get stuck in traffic. Haina, madam?” scoffs Mohd. Yusuf.

Indeed a pattern can be seen. Without taking away credit from the BMC for cleaning up drains in several areas of Mumbai – including the Hindmata in Parel – there are sprawling acres of slums and small localities which they have fully ignored. These photos are not a progress report of how much has been done. Instead, they prove how work in many areas never began and perhaps, won’t begin this monsoon.

It begs the question – with five months in hand, and a budget of Rs 110 crore, how does the city’s municipal corporation simply see through areas around the ghastly Mithi. The sheer scale of the BMC’s inefficiency is overwhelming. It would not be an understatement to say that they are nowhere near truly preparing the city for the monsoons.