NMMC begins preparing for rain in earnest

NAVI MUMBAI: Efforts are on to make the city rain-ready. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has begun its pre-monsoon work and has given all departments a deadline of May 31 to complete it.

“We have issued instructions to all the departments to clean nullahs, prune trees, restore dug-up roads and repair potholes. All the gutters which have been de-silted will be marked yellow,” said Ankush Chavan, city additional commissioner of NMMC. The department heads will start reviewing all the civic works.

City fire officer Prabhakar Gade, who recently took the charge of the Vashi fire station, said, “We have received eight new rescue boats. We have allotted two boats for each fire station under NMMC. We will also get new two water tenders of 12,000 litres capacity each. We recently received a new fire tender,” he said.

The garden department claims to have completed 25% of tree-pruning work. “Like every year, we have begun the special pre-monsoon drive to trim weak branches,” said Chandrakant Tayde, head of the garden department.

The solid waste management department has started checking drains and replacing broken gutter lids.

“We began with the cleaning of drains to ensure water flow easily and water flooding does not happen. We will complete our work by May 25,” said Tushar Pawar, deputy municipal commissioner of solid waste management of NMMC.

The corporation is using recycler and jetting machines to clean the sewage lines in the city.

“Around 20-25 recycler machines have been purchased to clean sewage lines. We have repaired the flap gates of holding ponds to ensure that there is no flooding,” said an official from the engineering department.

The corporation will soon announce the helpline number for its disaster cell which will be functional 24x7 during monsoon. Officials said the civic body will set up an emergency relief fund and 10 disaster management teams.

We have received eight new rescue boats. We have allotted two boats for each fire station under NMMC. We will also get new two water tenders of 12,000 litres capacity each. We recently received a new fire tender. PRABHAKAR GADE, city fire officer

A pond at Sector 8 in Vashi is being de-silted.