BMC centers for water bill collections to remain open till midnight

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on Monday announced that its centers will remain open from 8 am to 12 Midnight from Saturday March 29 to Monday March 31 2025 in view of the end of the financial year the officials saidThe extended working hours offer citizens an opportunity to pay their overdue water bills until the last momentAn official statement from the BMC said that on Monday March 31 2025 will be the final date for paying water bills for the financial year 20242025The BMC is also running the Abhay Yojana to offer special relief to water connection holders who have pending charges the officials said adding thatunder the scheme if the overdue amount is paid in one lump sum the additional penalties will be waivedThe Abhay Yojana aims to assist water connection holders by providing relief from extra charges imposed due to late paymentsThe BMC statement said that the citizens are encouraged to clear their pending bills before March 31 as any unpaid bills after this date will attract additional penaltiesFor the convenience of the public the centers will remain open for three consecutive days ndash Saturday March 29 Sunday March 30 and Monday March 31 ndash from 8 AM to 12 Midnight The special arrangement will allow maximum access to water bill payments even during public holidays and weekends the statement readsThe BMC has urged all residents including government and semigovernment offices to take advantage of the opportunity and clear their overdue water bills before the deadline of March 31 2025 it statedBMC to begin nullah desilting from March 25 using AI CCTV monitoring for transparency in workMeanwhile the BMC is set to begin the nullah desilting work in city from Tuesday March 25 the civic officials said on SundayThis year the BMC has introduced a new system that requires compulsory CCTV recordings of small drains along with 30second videos and photographs of the desilting work in an effort to enhance transparency and accountability The recordings will be analysed using an Artificial Intelligence AI technology which aims to ensure proper supervision throughout the process the officials saidThe officials further said that the work order for desilting the Mithi River which is also a major focus for BMC will be issued next week This will mark the start of operations for cleaning the Mithi River an essential task to prevent flooding during the monsoonMeanwhile the work for desilting Mumbairsquos smaller drains will begin as planned this Tuesday with 23 contractors assigned work orders for various parts of the city and its suburbsAbhijit Bangar Additional Municipal Commissioner explained ldquoLast year desilting operations started on March 15 This year we aim to clear the targeted silt by the end of May Desilting of the Mithi River will commence once the work orders are issued next week The delay was due to a court caserdquo he added