Amid growing complaints over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) monsoon preparedness, residents of Vikhroli have alleged that vehicles intended for desilting drains are being misused to transport construction debris disguised as silt. According to locals, numerous trucks are loaded with construction waste from sites in Vikhroli under the pretext of removing silt and are then taken to designated dumping grounds with falsified log sheets to legitimise the activity.
Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has appointed the Chief Engineer of the Vigilance Department to investigate the allegations and submit a report within 15 days. “The vigilance officer has been directed to submit a report within 15 days, following which appropriate action against the culprits will be determined,” a BMC official stated.
Social activists and truck owners have raised concerns over the lax oversight and accountability in municipal waste management. Ganesh Ghadge, a truck owner, shared that he possesses videos and photographs evidencing officials and contractors misusing the desilting process to embezzle funds. He claims that a contractor managing desilting across 16 to 17 wards has been orchestrating this scam by pre-signing log sheets and distributing them in bulk, enabling fraudulent operations.
Ghadge also noted that although 75 per cent of drains are expected to be cleaned before monsoon, only a fraction of the trucks carried actual nullah waste, with many filled solely with construction debris. He further alleged that trucks loaded with construction waste obtain log sheets from the M East ward and dump the material illegally at other locations, with Vikhroli being a hotspot due to the volume of black-coloured debris, locally called kala maal.
The BMC has implemented an AI-based monitoring system at its headquarters to improve transparency in silt removal. Ghadge has vowed to approach higher authorities, demanding a special investigation team and strict action against negligent officials to prevent such corruption in future.
Source: Mid-day
