2 min readMumbaiMar 25, 2026 08:06 PM IST
After failing to attract bidders twice, the BMC’s tender to desilt the Mithi river finally received responses from two companies following a third deadline extension. The civic body aims to begin work by March 28.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar said bids were received for all three packages of the Rs 29.5 crore project, which targets removing 1.65 lakh metric tonnes of silt. “For each of the packages, we have received two bids. We are scrutinising them and aim to award the contracts by Friday,” he said.
“We plan to start work by Saturday, with full-scale desilting across the city, including the Mithi, from April 4,” Bangar added.
The tender, floated on February 28, had earlier drawn no responses till its March 11 deadline, and again after an extension to March 17, prompting a third extension till March 24.
The annual desilting exercise, undertaken after the 2005 floods to improve drainage capacity, had slowed last year amid an Economic Offences Wing probe into alleged irregularities. The BMC achieved only about 60 per cent of its target in 2025-26.
Officials said most desilting is carried out before the monsoon. “We are also deploying AI-based systems to monitor desilting work, track debris dumping and vehicle movement,” Bangar said.
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