29 May,2017 06:51 PM IST | Mumbai | Laxman Singh
Even as the deepening and widening work on Mithi river has been crawling for years, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided it wants to develop gardens and pathways for walkers along its banks
Civic officials said that encroachments along the Mithi river will be demolished and the area fenced off. File Pic
Even as the deepening and widening work on Mithi river has been crawling for years, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided it wants to develop gardens and pathways for walkers along its banks.
The civic body has appointed a contractor to develop a garden and to create landscapes, pathways, lighting and seating areas and install litterbins. The proposal worth R2.94 crore will be tabled before the standing committee for approval this week. The civic body has set a deadline of six months to complete the beautification work.
One of the city's longest rivers, with a length of 17 km, came under the spotlight after a deluge in the city on July 26, 2005. After the disaster, the BMC and Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) had taken up cleaning, deepening and widening of the river that had been filled with silt, garbage and sewerage.
A senior official from the Garden Cell department said, "The work of beautification and developing the garden will start from Kurla's Kranti Nagar. The beautification will also help us get rid of encroachments along the banks."
Another official said, "Once beautification is done, we will be able to fence off that part of the area to curb encroachment."
The civic body has also planned to set up a sewerage treatment plant at Mithi river to control the direct discharge of sewerage. This year, in the budget, the civic body has made a provision of Rs 24 crore for such plants.
Another official from the storm water department said, "We are working on installing treatment plants at such locations."
