BMC has achieved only 66 per cent of its post-monsoon nullah desilting target for 2025–26, with western suburbs and the Mithi river lagging far behind. The shortfall raises concerns as pre-monsoon desilting for 2026–27 begins on April 1
Pre-monsoon nullah cleaning is undertaken in Dharavi in May 2024. FILE PIC/SHADAB KHAN
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) achieved only 66 per cent of its target for post-monsoon desilting of nullahs for the year 2025-26, even as desilting for the pre-monsoon season of 2026-27 is set to begin on April 1.
While the civic body targeted the removal of 1,96,727 metric tonnes (MT) of silt from the city’s nullahs from October to December, it has only managed to remove 1,31,201 MT until February 7. The nullahs in the western suburbs have fared much worse than the eastern suburbs, with only 40 per cent of desilting targets completed, in comparison to 97 per cent in the eastern suburbs. Of the 26,592.53 MT of silt that was to be cleared in the western suburbs after the monsoon, only 10,829.26 MT has been removed. In comparison, of the 15,320.07 MT to be removed from eastern suburbs nullahs, 14,534.89 MT has been removed so far.
Garbage piled up in Mithi river. File Pic/Nimesh Dave
As for removing 3810 MT of silt from boxed nullahs, no post-monsoon work has been carried out. Work on desilting of the 17-km-long Mithi river has been the slowest, with only 30 per cent (16,440.93 MT) of silt being removed against a target of 53,578.88 MT.
The BMC annually carries out desilting work on Mumbai's nullahs in three phases. In the pre-monsoon phase, between April and May every year, the target is to remove 80 per cent of the silt from the beds of nullahs to augment their water-carrying capacity and mitigate flooding during the monsoon season. During the monsoon months of June to September, 10 per cent of desilting work takes place. The remaining work takes place between October-December.
While no desilting work took place in October and early November, work was significantly stalled from December 2025 until January 15, 2026. After the civic elections concluded, post-monsoon desilting work has picked up pace, with maximum desilting taking place starting January 15.
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