Mumbai: About 4,000 slum families live with a landslide risk on a mulund hill because the state government has not provided sanctions on all the amount of funds for the retaining wall along the slopes.
BJP Mla Mihir Kotecha said in 2019, Mhada had proposed to build a 2-Km retaining wall along the slopes in Bhandup and Mulund with an estimate of Rs 10.5 Crore, but only RS 1.3 Crore was constructed and a small portion of the wall was built.
The slum pocket spread to a risky slope including Rahul Nagar, Rahul Nagar Baru, Shankar Tekdi, Amar Nagar, Hanuman Pala and Khindi Pala.
“20,000 residents are at risk of not only from landslides, but the old retaining wall itself.
There are no walls in several locations, and the structure in several dilapidated areas and need to be rebuilt or reinforced,” Kotecha said.
“We have raised this problem before the Planning and Development Committee of the District (DPDC), but the funds have not been approved for the wall.” DPDC sanctions funds, and walls were built by the contractor appointed by Mhada.
Guardian Minister Suburban Mumbai and Chairman of the DPDC Aaditya Thackeray said that the retaining wall construction was being prioritized.
“Over the years, the wall request for landslides protection has been raised, but it seems that it is not fulfilled,” Tha-Ckeray said.
“Since December 2019, we have given a priority to build a retaining wall …
for requests raised last year, all available funds are provided.
This year I also asked the district planning officer to ensure funds disbursed.” Thackeray added: “What is dangerous.
And most of us ignore is that in landslides recently in Peddar Road, Chembur and Bhandup even strong protection walls broken by the style of water and mud.
In Vikhroli, mud comes to the wall and swallows the hut.
“A survey A 2010 By Mhada and BMC slum improvement boards have found that almost 1 Lakh’s family lived on the slopes of Bukit Mumbai where around 22,483 were in a dangerous or vulnerable zone.
At present, activists and experts estimate that around 1.5 lakh families live on the slopes, and thousands of families live in dangerous zones.
Last week, 29 people died in two incidents of landslides in mahul and vikhroli after heavy rains.
In both cases, BMC claims that they have issued a warning to Slumdweller but they did not move.