BMC PATS ITS OWN BACK, claims ‘plastic ban’ will help end city’s waterlogging woes

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was on Wednesday seen ‘patting’ its own back before the Bombay High Court over the issue of waterlogging. The civic body, told the HC that its ‘decision’ to ban plastic will help in bringing down the instances of waterlogging in the city.

Senior counsel Anil Sakhre, appearing for the BMC informed a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudesai that the main reason for waterlogging in the city was plastic.

“Plastic used to accumulated in the drains and hinder the flow of water resulting in waterlogging. However, our recent decision of plastic ban will reduce waterlogging in Mumbai,” Sakhre claimed.

The bench was also informed that the BMC has identified over 800 manholes, in the ‘flood-prone’ areas of the city.

The bench was further informed that the civic body has successfully installed protective grills under 85 per cent of these identified man holes, on a priority basis, in flood-prone areas.

Sakhre said, “The BMC has already installed protective grills under 85 per cent of manhole in the flood-prone areas of the city. It has also initiated the process of covering at least 840 manholes with iron meshes. Doing so, will require some time.”

The bench accepted the submission and accordingly granted time till August 10, to complete the task.

It may be noted that the BMC had on an earlier hearing, informed the bench that it has installed the protective grills under 1400 manholes in the city, on a priority basis.

The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the BMC to cover all the manholes in the city to avoid untoward incidents like the death of a doctor in August 2017 deluges.