Mumbai, May 17 -- The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday said it had fished out a sofa dumped in the Dahisar River, allegedly by the Mumbai police, and appealed to all citizens to refrain from disposing of garbage or solid waste into drains. The civic body stepped in after a viral video on social media showed what appeared to be police officers dumping a yellow sofa into the Dahisar River. The sofa was earlier disposed of under a bridge near the Dahisar fire brigade. According to a post on X by @citizens_speak, the Mumbai police threw the sofa into the river after receiving a complaint about it being dumped under the bridge by "some irresponsible citizen." The BMC's official X handle replied to the post, saying it had addressed the matter and the sofa had been removed from the Dahisar River. "Ideally, such items should not be disposed of in drains," the BMC post said. "In such cases, citizens are advised to contact the local ward office, which can arrange for appropriate transportation and disposal." It added, "The police administration has also been requested to promptly coordinate with the concerned BMC ward office upon receiving such complaints related to solid waste management or storm water drainage, to ensure timely and effective resolution." The incident highlights the ongoing struggle with the improper disposal of bulky waste items in Mumbai's public spaces and water bodies. "Such practices not only damage the environment but also hinder the functioning of the city's storm water drainage systems, leading to severe flooding risks during the monsoon," said a civic official from BMC's storm water drains (SWD) department. However, a police officer attached to the MHB Colony police station, who did not wish to be named, denied that the police had dumped the sofa in the river. The officer said the police do not know how the sofa ended up in the river, but they removed it from the water body with the help of BMC officials. Civic officials said that while the BMC receives flak for flooding during the monsoon, a review of the junk pulled out of drains, nullahs, and rivers in the city indicated that the corporation alone is not responsible for the monsoon preparedness. Garbage dumped by people indiscriminately has been found choking the drains, which leads to flooding, officials added. Officials also recalled a similar incident from August 2023, when conservancy workers retrieved a 165-litre refrigerator, cupboards, beds, tarpaulins, rubber pipes, and other debris from the Mogra Canal near the Andheri Subway. These items severely disrupted the stormwater drainage system, contributing to major flooding during the first heavy rains of the season....