With the monsoon approaching fast, government authorities are looking at effective solutions, apart from retaining walls, to avoid landslide incidents in the city. The state government currently has provision of funds to construct retaining walls, but in view of last year’s Mahul tragedy where a retaining wall collapsed on a slum killing 19 people, suggestions have been made to include other remedial works under the fund too.

As per the recent disaster management meeting at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, the city has 249 hilly spots that are prone to landslide, of which 74 are dangerous to very dangerous. Of these, 47 are under priority I (very dangerous) and the rest are under priority II (dangerous), according to a detailed survey conducted three years ago. Most of these areas are in eastern suburbs such as Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Mahul, Kurla, etc. The civic body is set to send notices to all 249 spots to vacate the spots immediately.