BMC seeks Central funding for Mithi River Project

“The BMC along with the MMRDA has approached the Centre for funding the project. The Centre has also directed NEERI to conduct a detailed report of the project based on which it will be decided whether to fund the project or not,” said Aseem Gupta,Additional Municipal Commissioner.

According to Gupta,the agencies have asked the government to fund the remaining project which is estimated to cost about Rs 830 crore.

The civic administration is set to award the contract for part of the second phase of the project next week. The project which will involve constructing a retaining wall,beautification along the river and constructing service roads is set to begin soon,said a civic official. As part of the project,planned after the deluge of 2005,BMC and the MMRDA were to widen and deepen Mithi’s riverbed,clear encroachments and also build retaining walls and a few bridges.

While the first phase of the project,involved deepening and widening of the river beds,the second phase involved constructing a retaining wall,construction of bridges,beautification and construction of service roads along the river. “As of now,seven km of the 20 km retaining wall has been constructed and almost 100 per cent of the deepening and widening work is also completed,said civic officials. The project to prevent flooding of the Mithi river received a boost with the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) recently according CRZ clearance for a 13-km retaining wall along the much-abused river. The clearance was needed to build the wall taking into consideration the tide lines of the river.

The wall which is part of the second phase of the project,will enable channeling of the river,help prevent encroachments and dumping of debris in river. This wall will be built in seven patches along both sides of the river from Dharavi to Bandra-Kurla. The second phase of the project began in 2007,but is yet to be completed.

The project,which was initially proposed to be funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was rejected both the state and central funding after it was found that the Mithi River is a is a sewerage and cannot be funded by the state or centre as it is not a river,said an official.

In spate after the 944-mm downpour in July 2005,the river had wreaked havoc in the city,prompting the Centre to start the project to revive the river which has now become the city’s largest drainage system.

Meanwhile,the civic administration has also sought funding for the Brihanmumbai Stormwater Drainage (BRIMSTOWAD) project.

At present,work worth Rs 1,187 crore are in progress of which Rs 1,000 crore is Central Government funding and the remaining Rs 187 crore has been put in by the civic body. From costing Rs 616 crore when it was first proposed in 1993,the project cost has inflated to Rs 3,535 crore. The civic officials said that the BMC has asked for additional funding as the project costs have escalated for BRIMSTOWAD.