The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has levied a total penalty of Rs 30.83 lakh on all the 31 private contractors who are involved with the pre-monsoon desilting works in Mumbai.
According to the BMC officials, total 12 contractors have been penalised in the island city with a penalty amount of Rs 19.75 lakhs being levied on them. Meanwhile, in the eastern suburbs a penalty of Rs 7.2 lakhs have been levied on 10 different contractors, while in the western suburbs a total of Rs 3.88 lakhs have been imposed on nine contractors, who are working in that area.
Civic officials said that the penalty was imposed on the basis of inspection reports filed by civic officials.
“If a contractor is found to be not removing silts from drains properly, then the penalty amount is being levied on them. The penalty amount will be deducted from the total amount of payment that will be given to them post completion of their work,” said an official.
Earlier in March, the BMC appointed 31 different agencies at a cost of Rs 249 crore for carrying the yearlong desilting works.
This year, the BMC intends to remove 13.1 crore Metric Tonnes (MT) silt over the next one year, out of which around 10.2 crore MT will be removed by May, 2024, before monsoon this year, while 1.57 lakh MT will be removed during monsoon. The remaining 1.32 lakh MT of silt will be removed between October 2024 and March 2025.
Out of the total number of agencies that have been appointed by BMC, 15 will carry out desilting in western suburbs, 10 in eastern suburbs and three in island city. Alongside this, three agencies have been appointed specifically to desilt the Mithi River.