Mithi work far from over

The widening, deepening and desilting of the Mithi River has assumed a sense of urgency, and officials are under pressure to avoid a repeat of 26/7. The Maharashtra state government had promised to complete all work on the river, including the beautification of its banks, by June 2010, but experts say that this is highly unlikely. A 60m wide channel is to be constructed in the Arabian Sea, 2km from Mahim Causeway bridge on one side and 1.5km from Bandra-Worli sea-link on the other, to allow the river to discharge into the deep sea. The construction of the channel requires the removal of 80,000 cubic metre of silt and 17,000 cubic metre of rock. Though the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) aims to complete a third of the work before the monsoon, the lowest bid received till date is 45% below the estimated Rs 22 crore cost. “It is not possible to carry out the work at such a low cost without manipulation,’’ said an industry. Dilip Kawathkar, joint director, public relations, MMRDA, said the agency has not finalised the bid. The MMRDA, has also failed to deepen the mouth of the Mahim Bay, where the river meets the sea, in time. In January 2007, it had awarded a contract for the excavation work, to be completed by August 2008. But information obtained under the RTI shows that only 1,600 cubic metre of rock has been excavated. A fortnight ago, the MMRDA extended the contract till June this year. MMRDA engineers blamed the delay on the time it took to obtain the No Objection Certificates (NOCs). “The NOCs were obtained by the contractor in March 2008. We have fined the contractor Rs 20 lakh for the delay,’’ said officials. N V Merani, former member secretary MMRDA Board, said, “The work of widening should have been done from downstream, moving upstream. Here, it has been the exact opposite. It will result in silting, unless the mouth is also deepened,’’ he said.
The banks of the Mithi River with sparse mangrove between Dharavi bridge and mini-confluence on the BKC are set to get a new look complete with trees, and thick stairs of black stones or Gabion walls, to prevent soil erosion. These plans, that are part of the Mithi’s beautification project, is being implemented quickly, say sources in order to sell some of the rarely seen huge open plots in the area. Authorities are yet to tackle the sewage water along this stretch and reduce the odour emanating from the river. “Once this pilot phase is done, we will implement it all along the Mithi’s embankment across BKC, that is up to MTNL bridge, Kapadia Nagar side and the Vakola nullah,’’ said MMRDA chief engineer S R Nandargikar. The Rs 9.14 crore-project includes the construction of ‘wooded bund’ with densely green trees and shrubs, about 3,750 cubic meters of Gabian wall, and 1,700 sq m of paver blocking. The tenders will be opened on March 30 and the winning company will have nine months to complete the work.