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A video of police officers tossing a sofa into the Dahisar River surfaced recently, despite the BMC’s repeated warnings to residents not to dispose of rubbish in nullahs.
The sofa was dumped under a bridge close to the Dahisar fire department. (Photo Credit: X)
Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been warning residents not to dispose of their trash in nullahs or streams. Nevertheless, on May 15, a video appeared online showing police officials tossing a sofa into the Dahisar River. The abandoned sofa was taken out of the nullah by the BMC’s Storm Water Drain (SWD) department as soon as the video gained traction on social media.
A sofa was allegedly discarded by an irresponsible individual under the bridge near Bhimashankar Heights, near the Dahisar fire department, according to a video shared on X (previously Twitter). According to reports, the Mumbai Police dumped the sofa into the Dahisar River after receiving a complaint.
After the video went viral, the sofa was taken out of the nullah by the BMC’s SWD department with assistance from the local police. Reportedly, the civic body has urged the police to work with civic officials to handle such complaints to guarantee prompt and appropriate action, and it has advised citizens to get in touch with the local ward office for suitable garbage disposal plans.
The Storm Water Drainage Department (Western Suburbs) has addressed the issue and the sofa dumped in the Dahisar River has been removed.Ideally, such items should not be disposed of in drains.
In such cases, citizens are advised to contact the local ward office, which can… pic.twitter.com/8VydlhDzbn
– My Mumbai, your BMC (@mybmc) May 16, 2025
The BMC has, however, reaffirmed its call for residents to refrain from disposing of trash or solid waste down the drain, stating that doing so seriously impairs drainage systems and damages the environment.
The persistent dumping of large items like couches, cabinets, and furniture, particularly in slum areas, continues to worry officials. The SWD department installed steel nets on nullahs at P&T Colony in Bandra West as part of a pilot project in December 2023 to address this issue.
Inspired by the success, the BMC now intends to extend the program to additional nullahs that are at risk, especially those that are close to chawls and slums.
The civic authority has implemented many initiatives to stop dumping in nullahs over the years, including setting up dustbins beside drains, covering them with nets, launching awareness campaigns, designating clean-up marshals, and fining offenders.
Reportedly, one of the main causes of the devastating 26/7 floods in 2005, which killed over 1,000 people, was clogged drains, typically caused by plastic bags. At the moment, Mumbai is home to 1,508 small nullahs and 309 big nullahs.
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
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