Mumbai, May 4 -- In a continued effort to curb garbage from Mumbai's stormwater drains entering the Arabian Sea and Thane Creek, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to install 14 new trash booms across key nullahs in the city. These steel-net barriers, which trap floating waste and transfer it to bins or collection vans using a conveyor belt system, are being deployed in two phases. The first tranche, covering nullahs in the eastern suburbs, will be installed within a month - ahead of the monsoon. The remaining six, intended for nullahs in the western suburbs, are currently in the tendering stage and are expected to be operational by October. Each unit costs Rs.1 crore. Once in place, the new installations will expand Mumbai's trash boom network to 23. The existing nine units, which were introduced three years ago, have shown promising results in capturing floating waste before it can pollute the city's fragile marine ecosystems. "This trash boom system has proven effective in several parts of the city, which is why we're expanding it," said an official from the BMC's Storm Water Drain (SWD) department. "Each boom is anchored to the nullah's boundary walls and has a submerged net extending two feet below the waterline, with floating borders to trap waste regardless of tidal conditions."...