BMC launches ‘War Room’ to monitor desilting work in Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on Tuesday said that it has launched a dedicated lsquoWar Roomrsquo at its headquarters in Fort area of south Mumbai to the ongoing premonsoon desilting work in MumbaiIn a post on X the Mumbai civic body wrote In order to enhance monitoring transparency and efficiency in drain desilting operations across Mumbai a lsquoWar Roomrsquo has been made operational at BMC headquarters and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Commissioner chief Bhushan Gagrani conducted an inspectionIn order to enhance monitoring transparency and efficiency in drain nallah desilting operations across Mumbai a lsquoWar Roomrsquo has been made operational at the sixth floor of the extended wing at the BMC Headquarters Municipal Commissioner amp Administrator Shri Bhushan Gagranihellip pictwittercomreMeK2zoBUmdash Mumbai BMC mybmc April 29 2025The war room will function in two shifts daily from 8 am to 11 pm with continuous monitoring by a team that includes one engineer and three other staff members said Additional Municipal Commissioner Project Abhijit BangarThis year the contracts for desilting work include stricter terms and conditions The video documentation of 30 seconds along with photographs has been made mandatory for the work For minor drains CCTV footage before and after the desilting is compulsory All these images and videos will be streamed live in the War RoomExplaining about AIPowered work an official said Around 7000 minutes of video footage is expected to be uploaded during the entire desilting period This footage will be reviewed using AI systems If any irregularities or unusual occurrences are detected those videos will be flagged and separated for further review These flagged videos will then be manually and physically verified by the team When a vehicle arrives at the weighbridge it is mandatory to remove the tarpaulin cover If the cover is not removed the AI system will automatically flag this and a weight receipt will not be generated for that vehicle If an incorrect or manipulated video is uploadedmdashsuch as a video recorded from another videomdashthe system is trained to detect such discrepanciesHe added All major drains and the Mithi River have been georeferenced If a desilting vehicle is found at a location other than the designated nullah area weighbridge or dumping site the system will flag the anomaly If a vehicle carries significantly more weight than the usual expected load the system will detect it for further investigation Large Language Models LLMs such as ChatGPT LLaMA etc will be used in the desilting process These AIpowered tools will help analyse the large volumes of data generated and facilitate easier data analytics and insightsDuring a recent nullah desilting visit in Mumbai Gagrani had stated that although the desilting work is progressing satisfactorily residents from nearby areas continue to dump plastic and other waste materials into the nullah He appealed to residents living alongside nullah and all citizens of Mumbai not to dump solid waste discarded items or plastic materials into the drains and instead extend their cooperation to the BMCGagrani had mentioned that 43 percent of the premonsoon desilting target has already been completed and the remaining work will be expedited within the next monthHe said transparency has been introduced in the silt removal process this year All video footage received during desilting operations is being analysed using artificial intelligence systems For the first time AI is being used to monitor desilting work and ensure full transparency in operations which has significantly aided the administrationGagrani further added that to regulate the flow of floodwaters the Storm Water Drains Department has installed flood control gate at certain locations These gates help manage water pressure prevent structural damage and maintain a controlled and safe flow of water When the water pressure or level exceeds a specific threshold the gate opens automatically to release the excess wateratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params