‘Mithi River rejuvenation to be complete in 2 yrs; state, Centre in sync’: Aaditya Thackeray

The river, which became infamous after the 2005 deluge, and was described as an ‘open drain’ by the state government in a report it submitted to the Supreme Court last year, has seen several attempts to clean it.

After years of delay, the Mithi River rejuvenation project will be completed in two years, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said on Saturday.

After years of delay, the Mithi River rejuvenation project will be completed in two years, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said on Saturday. (Kunal Patil/HT photo)

The river, which became infamous after the 2005 deluge, and was described as an ‘open drain’ by the state government in a report it submitted to the Supreme Court last year, has seen several attempts to clean it.

Thackeray, who is rumoured to be planning to enter the electoral race in the Assembly polls in October, blamed the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government for the delay. “For the past 15 years, we were not in government. You need a sync between the Central and state governments and the municipal corporation because we have 16 authorities governing Mumbai. Here, Mithi goes through the industrial estate, land belonging to Airports Authority of India, railways, MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) and BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). For the first time in five years, we have the governments in sync .According to me, in the next two years, the work will be completed. A lot of work has already been completed,” he said.

The river, which meets the Arabian Sea at Mahim Creek, starts at the Vihar and Powai lakes and passes through several areas of the city’s suburbs.

State environment minister Ramdas Kadam said that apart from Mithi, the state government will now clean up 20 rivers across the state. “We have submitted proposals of cleaning 20 rivers worth ₹6,000 crore to the Centre. Our aim is to clean all the rivers across the state and make them pollution-free,” said Kadam.