BJP says Mithi desilting sham,encroachments back on banks

The state might have claimed that it had cleaned up the Mithi river,but the Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the river desilting work undertaken by the MMRDA contractors was a “lacklustre” exercise and that encroachments had returned to the river banks.

BJP national secretary and former Lok Sabha MP Kirit Somaiya said on Friday that while encroachments had returned,the protection wall had not yet been constructed. He also alleged that while the oil mafia and scrap vendors continued to pollute the river,its depth had reduced.

Somaiya said the MMRDA was dumping silt on the river banks instead of transporting it to a dumping ground,which led to the silt being washed back into the river,negating the desilting exercise.

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He alleged that there were no protective systems like permanent police chowkies,deployment of policemen or private security guards.

Garbage dumped on the banks was blocking the flow of the river,he said,pointing out that requests by the state government to include the Mithi river project in the JNNURM was pending approval of the Centre.