With May coming to a close, residents of Kandivli are growing increasingly frustrated over the choked state of the Poisar nullah, still littered with garbage and debris. Despite the Maharashtra government’s deadline of June 7 for the citywide nullah cleaning drive, locals say it’s unlikely that the 11-kilometre-long Poisar nullah will be fully desilted in time.
Ironically, the Poisar river is one of eight sites in Mumbai where trash booms—designed to trap floating waste and transfer it into bins or collection trucks—have been installed. “We fail to understand why such advanced technology was introduced here when the nullah has never actually been clean,” said Bharti Nagarkar, a resident of Thakur Village.
As part of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) annual desilting efforts, locals allege that only superficial cleaning has taken place. “They bring in large excavators, collect floating waste, and simply push the rest deeper into the nullah. When it rains, all that buried waste resurfaces, choking the water flow again,” explained Sheetal Zaveri, another Kandivli resident.
Another resident, Mrs D’Souza, added, “Officials come, pose for photos with residents, and leave after a token clean-up. The excavator stays idle for days, and only two or three trucks are filled. The real problem remains untouched.”
Residents of buildings like Accord Apartments, Radhakrishna Cooperative Housing Society, Shivshankar Mandir, St Joseph School, and Assumption Church report severe waterlogging during the monsoon. “Each year, water floods our buildings—sometimes knee-deep or worse. We have to move our vehicles elsewhere just to avoid damage,” Mrs D’Souza said.
Repeated attempts to contact officials from the BMC’s R South ward went unanswered at the time of publishing.
Source: Mid- day
