Dinesh Kamath's news item 'NMMC promises to offer best services during monsoon' that was published in Newsband

NMMC promises to offer best services during monsoon

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: This time Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has put in lot of efforts as far as pre-monsoon works are concerned. It is trying its best to ensure that there will not be water-logging anywhere in the city during heavy rains. It is focusing particularly on sensitive areas where water-logging is possible.

The efforts are on to complete all the pre-monsoon works before deadline. The disaster management cell is all prepared to tackle any kind of calamity that might occur during the monsoon.

The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) will have to do its bit now to prevent flooding in the city during heavy rain and high tides. It is in the hands of MCZMA to prevent desilting of holding ponds in the city. These holding ponds need to be taken great care of particularly during monsoon. There are 11 holding ponds in the city and during monsoon there are chances of creek water entering these ponds. Due to ill-maintenance of holding ponds, creek water and silt has accumulated in them over the years, and mangroves too have grown. This has affected the holding capacity of the ponds. Now it is in the hands of MCZMA to take care of these holding ponds during monsoon. MCZMA will have to play a powerful role to prevent flooding in the city during heavy rains and high tides.

NMMC alone cannot do the work of preventing the flooding of roads in the city during high tides. NMMC will need the cooperation of MCZMA too to ensure that there will be no water logging especially at the sensitive areas during heavy rains.

In fact, NMMC will need the cooperation of other major organizations like Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO0 and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Ltd. (MSEDCL). All these organizations are currently extremely busy carrying out the pre-monsoon works like desilting of nullahs and gutters. NMMC has been warned that no new digging works should start before the monsoon.

A resident of Airoli was found complaining that at Airoli, several gutters and nullahs are still to be cleaned and tree branches are to be trimmed. He also complained that there are road digging works still in progress there and garbage bins were found missing.

However, when the attention of NMMC authorities was drawn towards these facts, they just assured that they have been carrying out the pre-monsoon work on a war footing and that all these works will definitely get completed before the first rain. They also identified 13 various spots in Navi Mumbai where flooding can take place during heavy rains. They have assured that these areas have been listed in the plan made by disaster management and that necessary steps have been taken by the administration. NMMC, in fact, has shortlisted the areas based on the data of last few years.

NMMC should be lauded for chalking out an elaborate plan to renovate all dilapidated gardens and give them a facelift before monsoon. It is spending a big amount for this purpose.    

Thus it appears that NMMC is well prepared to tackle any kind of eventuality during this monsoon and also the other government agencies are all prepared to lend their cooperation to NMMC in whatever way possible.