Kurla

drains

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The offence

a box bed, and another piece of furniture, probably a broken chair

Mumbai

choking your drains – a bed, a table and a mat

A routine clean-up of manholes andin Kurla (west), following complaints of rampant flooding of LBS Marg during rains, has provided a new insight into what could be choking them.On Sunday, conservancy workers fished out a cupboard, a table, a bed and mattresses among other objects from nullah no.10, one of the biggest open drains in Kurla.While the BMC has received flak for the city getting flooded every time there is heavy rainfall, the junk pulled out of drains in Kurla indicates the corporation alone is not responsible for the monsoon mess.Assistant Commissioner, L ward, Manish Valanju, said that while people are quick to criticise BMC for flooded roads, they don’t think twice before dumping their furniture in drains.To make sure the residents realise their mistake, Valanju made sure every piece of junk taken out of the drains on Sunday was photographed. “I hope people realise how irresponsible they are being when they see these pictures,” he said.However, the BMC is not going to stop at shaming people with pictures (see photos).of chucking junk into a drain will attract of a fine of anything between Rs 200 to Rs 5,000, depending on the size of the object. “Our nuisance detectors will keep a watch.Offenders will have to pay fines,” said another ward officer who did not wish to be identified.Valanju said there were several complaints from the residents of Khairani Road, which runs alongside nullah number 10. “When our labourers went into the drain to check what was stopping the smooth flow of water, they found large pieces of furniture.Residents, who did not wish to be identified for obvious reasons, said it is common for folk here to dump whatever goes out of use into the nullah.“Interestingly, some of the stuff taken out of the nullah was what got ruined during the last flooding,” said a resident, hinting at a vicious cycle.Civic officials said the state of all big open drains in the neighborhood. “Sunder Bagh nullah near Phoenix mall, which has a net covering, also is full of junk,” said the officer quoted above. Between LBS Marg in Kurla and Saki Naka, there are at least six spots where residents dump waste -- Sunder Bagh, 90-feet Road, Khairani Road, Premier Road, CST Bridge and Nullah no. 10.Valanju said spots where the problem is severe have been identified. “We will deploy marshals there and are start fining the offenders,” he said, and added that his men have taken out even broken water pipes and bamboos from the drain. “Nothing surprises us anymore,” he said.The ward office will start an awareness campaign, urging residents to not dump waste in open drains. The idea is to tell residents – what goes around, comes around. “We have conducted street plays under SwachhaPrabhodan Abhiyan in conjunction with some NGOs working with the BMC. We are conducting meetings with residents. Hopefully, we will see some improvement,” said Valanju.