BMC spends ₹3 lakh a day on beach cleaning, expenditure up 144% in five years

Data available from the solid waste management department also shows that the corporation’s expenditure on this task has escalated exponentially, rising by 144% in five years between 2017 and 2021

Mumbai: As it makes efforts to keep up with the growing amounts of trash accumulating on city shores, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has spent an average of ₹3 lakh per day on beach cleaning over the last five and a half years.

Versova and Juhu beaches in K-West ward, the data shows, are by a long margin the most expensive beaches to keep clean, as they also generate the largest amounts of trash among the city’s public beaches, accumulating as much as 45 to 130 metric tonnes of garbage every single day. (AFP)

Data available from the solid waste management department also shows that the corporation’s expenditure on this task has escalated exponentially, rising by 144% in five years between 2017 and 2021.

From spending ₹655.7 lakh on beach cleaning in 2017, the BMC in 2021 spent ₹1,603.21 lakh, a substantial increase that officials attributed to various factors, including growing amounts of waste, and inflating costs of fuel, transportation, equipment and labour.

In all, between January 2017 and June 2022, the corporation has spent ₹6,509.74 lakh on beach cleaning -- which works out to an average of ₹3 lakh per day -- with a majority of the funds allocated for cleaning up Madh-Marve, Gorai-Manori, Juhu, Versova, Chimbai-Waringpada, Dadar-Mahim, and Girgaon Chowpatty beaches, which together have a length of 35kms. These are taken care of by 10 beach cleaning machines, six tractor-trailers, 11 trash compactors and three skid steer loaders distributed as per requirement.

Versova and Juhu beaches in K-West ward, the data shows, are by a long margin the most expensive beaches to keep clean, as they also generate the largest amounts of trash among the city’s public beaches, accumulating as much as 45 to 130 metric tonnes of garbage every single day. Together, they make up more than a third of the total beach waste collected from across the city, which ranges between 130 to 330 metric tonnes per day. In 2017, the BMC spent ₹199.72 lakh on maintaining these beaches, an expense which ballooned to just over ₹829 lakh in 2021.

Minesh Pimple, deputy chief engineer, solid waste management department, said, “Rising costs are expected when carrying out any kind of civic maintenance. It is a constant challenge to keep delivering good results despite higher expenses. The ward officers work with our contractors to ensure that the clean-up is carried out to acceptable standards.”

“Juhu and Versova together are more than 10kms in length, so naturally the expenses are more. Sometimes, you have a heavy monsoon and this throws up a lot more trash on the beach, which means more man-hours and use of equipment by the concessionaire. Increasing costs of equipment, maintenance, labour and fuel have meant that there are not many contractors remaining who are able to execute the work at a more reasonable cost,” said an official with the BMC’s solid waste management department.

Municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.