Donkeys to be put on garbage duty in narrow Worli lane

Bhavika Jain TNN

Mumbai : The countrys richest civic agency,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),hasdecidedtohire donkeys to transport debris from a narrow lane in Worli as cleaning vehiclescannotenter the lane.
This decision was taken by mayor Sunil Prabhu after repeated complaints by a Shiv Sena corporator,Hemangi Worlikar,from Worli Koliwada.Worlikar has repeatedly complained that the civic body has not lifted debris and silt from Mithi river,which has been dumped in a corner of Worli Koliwada,citing the excuse of a narrow access road to the spot where the debris lies.
Since excavators cant enter the spot as the road is narrow,we have decided to hire donkeys on whom bags fullof debriscan beloaded and taken to the garbage dumper, Prabhu said.
The mayor hasdirectedthe ward office to clean the area in a weeks time.Ward officers have estimated needing at least 8-10 donkeys to clear the dumped garbage.
Civicofficialssaythatsuch an exercise,of hiring donkeys to clean garbage in narrow lanes and inaccessible house gullies,was used in south Mumbai in the 1990s.A similar exercise was also conducted in the P-north ward,(Malad ) a few years ago.
Worlikar said that the spot has over 500 truckloads of garbage,dumped by developers and private entities,at the location.She addedthatthe residents in the area have been living with the stench and unhygienic conditions for the last one year.
The ward office gave excuses like JCBs cannot enter the area,and if they did manage to get in,they could get stuck.BMCstaff never offered solutions on cleaning the area, said Worlikar.