Mumbaikars keen to have a clean city, onus on us now, says Praveen Pardeshi

  • | Tuesday | 14th May, 2019

BMC's coastal road project is facing a lot of oppositionThe coastal road work started after taking all the environmental related permission from the central government agencies and suggestions/objections from all. The coastal road is hardly 0.1 percent. Praveen Pardeshi, Mumbai's new commissioner stated that the city is uniquely disposed. BEST has 3200 buses and the fleet should be increased to 5000 as per need of the city. In a special interaction with the DNA, the new chief of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) articulated his views on issues like the coastal road, BEST, Metro, monsoon preparedness, water, scams, health, fire among others.

Praveen Pardeshi, Mumbai's new commissioner stated that the city is uniquely disposed. "People of Mumbai have an attachment to their city. They take ownership to keep it clean and at par with global cities. Now it is up to us on how we use people's participation," he said. In a special interaction with the DNA, the new chief of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) articulated his views on issues like the coastal road, BEST, Metro, monsoon preparedness, water, scams, health, fire among others. BMC's coastal road project is facing a lot of opposition The coastal road work started after taking all the environmental related permission from the central government agencies and suggestions/objections from all. We will take measures as per the report of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) to take care of the livelihood of the Koli community. Countries like Netherland have more than 30 percent of reclaimed lands. The coastal road is hardly 0.1 percent. However, what about environmental concerns? We need to solve it by communication. There are conflicts between environmentalists and developers and we will resolve it with people's participation. Will Mumbai face more water cuts? No. BMC had made planning and as per that 10 per cent water cut will remain. However, Maharashtra state is facing drought-like condition and Mumbaikars should use water more judicially. Is there any scheme to improve water stock? The city uses water from dams located in other districts. The current stock will be insufficient for the future. We release two third of the water in the sea after use. We can use this water following second-line treatment. There are some legal issues in this which we will soon resolve. Also Read: New civic chief Praveen Pardeshi offers a ‘solid’ proposal Mumbaikars are facing traffic congestion issues. Traffic happens in most international cities when the length of roads remain constant and yet people buy more cars. Strengthening public transport will solve the issue but it requires a lot of investment. Metro rails network will reduce the traffic of vehicles by 30 to 40 per cent. We should improve BEST to give feeder routes to Metro and Suburban Rail network. However, BEST is in a sorry state with unions opposed to any revamp proposal. All public transports are run in losses and BEST also need support. BEST has 3200 buses and the fleet should be increased to 5000 as per need of the city. However, with more than 1000 crores of outstanding losses we can only afford taking buses on rent. This means taking buses on hire from private companies along with drivers and conducters. However, the existing ones need not worry about their jobs. What about monsoon preparedness? I have taken a meeting with the stormwater drains department. The nullah cleaning is going on, even there is a need to widen the path of nullah in some spots. BMC will complete it on war foot in the coming days. There are many flooding spots in the city and we will take extra care to drain out water. We will use GIS mapping to decongest the roads in the wake of any disaster. Solid Waste management is a big issue for Mumbai. How do you look at it? We should take care of our waste. Mumbai dumps its solid waste on other city's land against which locals are protesting. Waste recycling is the best method to reduce waste quantity. The things which can't be recycled should transport to dumping ground and for that, we must promote waste segregation and recycling on the society level and the societies who are willingly doing it should get property tax exemption in return.

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