MMRDA’s Mithi River Clean-up project to commence after May

The much-awaited 'Mithi River Clean-Up' project of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will begin only after next month.

As the installation work of the customised recycling plant made by Finland-based firm, RiverRecycle, may take place in the fourth week of May, only after overcoming the challenges of logistical, labour issues and availability of technical experts amid Covid-19. Besides, Customs clearance, site preparation by taking measurements, depth analysis about the flow of river and floating waste the said installation work will be completed and thereafter the cleaning work shall begin.

The machine has already reached India in January this year, informed MMRDA.

The Mithi River Clean-up project is one the city's crucial project as the city faced unprecedented deluge on July 26, 2005 with rainfall of 944 mm in 24 hours coinciding with highest high tide of 4.48 metre resulting in severe flooding in the river's catchment area. It drew attention of the entire world.

The proposed clean-up project is expected to improve the river more. The Finlandmanufactured recycling plant will be installed in the Mithi River, New Vakola Bridge mini confluence at BKC. The main objective of the project is to collect floating waste and recycle it. MMRDA is the facilitator for the project, which will review the performance and the outcomes of the river clean-up project regularly. The duration of the said project is of 18 months and is funded by Huhtamaki, a Finnish and leading consumer packaging company by giving Rs 5 crore.