State orders SIT probe into irregularities in desilting and widening of Mithi river

The state government on Tuesday said it would set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged irregularities in expenditure of nearly ₹1,160 crore on desilting and widening of the Mithi river.

The announcement is seen as an attempt to target Uddhav Thackeray whose Shiv Sena was ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) when it carried out most of the works.

Prasad Lad, an MLC from BJP, moved a calling attention motion in the council, claiming that despite hundreds of crores of rupees being spent on the desilting and widening works in the last 17 years, the project was still incomplete.

Alleging corruption by the BMC, Lad along with his party colleague Praveen Darekar demanded an SIT inquiry into the matter.

In a counterattack laced with sarcasm, MLC Anil Parab from Shiv Sena (UBT) said the government should indeed probe the alleged corruption and once it got the report, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation should raid those who were involved in it.

“Some new names might crop up during the SIT inquiry and then this will be closed,” he added.

Responding to the motion on behalf of chief minister Eknath Shinde, industries minister Uday Samant announced that an SIT would probe the alleged irregularities in the expenditure on the project.

He also assured the house that BMC and MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) would be instructed to shift the residents of Sandesh Nagar, Kranti Nagar and Bail Bazar from near the riverbanks and the government would provide these people with homes kept for the project-affected people.

Giving details of the works executed by BMC and MMRDA in the last 17 years, Samant claimed that ₹1,160 crore had been spent till now.

“The Mithi has a length of 17.84 km. After the flood of July 26, 2005, the state decided to undertake desilting and widening works. Therefore, work on a stretch of 11.84 km from the origin of the river in Powai up to Kurla was assigned to BMC. Work on the remaining six km - from Kurla to Mahim causeway - was given to MMRDA. The first phase of work began in 2006 with an expenditure of ₹31.88 crore. In all, MMRDA spent ₹538.40 crore while BMC spent ₹622 crore,” the minister said and added the government would act on the illegal constructions along the riverbanks.

DPR being prepared

Samant informed the council that work on a detailed project report (DPR) for the Mithi beautification was being prepared. “Once the DPR is ready, BMC will examine it and work will then begin. Besides, the process to float tenders for other works related to the Mithi, which are estimated at ₹1,670crore, is underway.”

He also said that the National Green Tribunal had ordered a stay on some works in the Mithi project, and the next date for hearing is July 26.