MUMBAI, April 11 -- As part of its pre-monsoon prep, the civic administration has rolled out a digital tool to tighten oversight on its annual desilting operations and curb malpractices among contractors. GPS trackers have now been fitted to contractors' dumpsters so that the entire process, from desilting Mumbai's 911-km-long storm-water drain network to dumping the waste extracted, is tracked and monitored digitally. As part of this process, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is using 'geo-fencing' to make sure the silt is disposed of only at designated dumping sites. Geo-fencing technology creates a virtual boundary around a specific area using GPS technology. This enables software to trigger an alert when a GPS tracker enters or leaves the perimeter. The BMC's dashboard https://swd.mcgm.gov.in/WMS2026/#/predashboard currently shows 28 unloading spots, typically quarries in the neighbouring townships of Bhiwandi, Thane and Navi Mumbai. The BMC's own Solid Waste Management (SWM) department refused to permit the dumping of silt at Mumbai's dumping yards, citing lack of space, said additional municipal commissioner (projects) Abhijit Bangar. Mumbai has a 911km network of drains - 274km of major drains and 637km of minor drains. According to the Storm Water Drains department's dashboard, 98,502.36 tonne silt has been cleared so far, against targeted 841,799.07 tonnes - 14% of the target. The dashboard shows 13% of major nallas and 14% of minor nallas across the city have been desilted. The desilting of Mumbai's longest river, the 18-km-long Mithi River, has only just begun -only 1% of its target has been achieved. The BMC is deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor not just the dumping of silt but the drain-cleaning work itself. The civic body is taking no chances as it has faced a backlash from angry citizens, time and again, when large parts of the city flood during the monsoon. Scrutiny will be even more intense this year as Mumbai has elected corporators keeping tabs on the BMC after a gap of four years. Unlike earlier years, when contractors shared images to verify drain-cleaning work, they are now required to upload videos on the BMC's dashboard. "If they fail to upload the videos, we will simply not clear their payments. In case of dereliction of service, we will simply blacklist them, to stop them from being part of drain-cleaning operations in future," said Bangar. The BMC has kept 547 dewatering pumps on standby at flood-prone spots. Although he refused to reveal the number of sites, Bangar mentioned the stretch beneath the Saki Naka metro station and Andheri subway as one of the most challenging. "The only way to handle the sheer volume and speed of the flow of water in the Andheri subway is to divert the water or increase its holding capacity," he said. While a neighbouring school compound has been identified for holding tanks, they realise this is not a foolproof solution as it will reduce but not avert flooding, he added. Civic and railway officials undertook a joint inspection at Bandra east to monitor drain-cleaning work. The BMC pays the railways to carry out pre-monsoon drain-cleaning in the jurisdiction of the railways. "If railway lines flood, there is no use pointing fingers at that stage. To altogether avoid such a predicament, we must ensure the drains are cleaned properly before the monsoon hits," Bangar said....