Pre-monsoon work: State sets May 31 deadline

The state rapped the civic body for the delay in pre-monsoon work and has fixed May 31 as the deadline to complete all pending work.

The state rapped the civic body for the delay in pre-monsoon work and has fixed May 31 as the deadline to complete all pending work.

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Naseem Khan, Guardian Minister of the Mumbai suburban district, arranged for a pre-monsoon meeting on Wednesday at the Mantralaya that was attended by Municipal Commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya and other senior officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

“We were expecting about 65 per cent of work to be complete by now. But only 58 per cent is done. The civic body cited lack of dumping ground as a reason for the delay. The collector has now allotted an 8-acre land in the suburbs which will speed up the work,” said Khan.

He added that no excuses will be entertained and the deadline will have to be followed for all works.

“The only exception to this rule is major projects like the metro and monorail which have finished their base work and now are working above the plinth level, and it is necessary to meet the December 2010 deadline for these projects,” said Khan.

In the meeting, 196 low lying areas in the suburbs where diesel-pumping sets will be fitted to pump water into nullahs or drains were identified.

“The month end is the deadline for cleaning all the nullahs and drains and completing the deepening work of the Mithi river. All stretches from Bandra Kurla Complex to Powai have to be done within this time,” Khan said.

An additional 15 labourers will be employed per ward for days when there will be heavy rain and more manpower will be needed for the cleaning process.

The state has also set the same deadline for all utilities carrying on cable laying work and repair works by digging roads. This will include semi-government and government bodies and energy and gas providing companies.