MUMBAI, May 28 -- This year, a little over half the desilting work on the Mithi River will be complete, leaving areas along its banks vulnerable to flooding during the monsoon. Desilting the highly polluted river ground to a near-halt after two of the three contractors involved were recently charged in an alleged Rs.65.5-crore scam, and the third was blacklisted for mixing debris in the silt to manipulate its weight. The river, which arises in Vihar and Powai lakes in Mumbai, passes through several eastern suburbs including Dharavi and BKC, before emptying into the Arabian Sea at Mahim. Desilting the Mithi is an annual exercise. Starting on April 5 this year, work is only 53% complete - the deadline is May 31. Three contractors - JRS Infrastructure, Tridev Infrastructure and Bhumika Transport - had been given contracts to desilt three portions of the 18-km-long Mithi River ahead of the monsoon. "The owners of the companies named by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) in the scam are absconding, and the third has been blacklisted by the BMC for three years," said Abhijeet Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects). "The workers and machinery are still on site but the pace of work is very slow. No other companies are ready to take up the work." An official from the BMC's storm water drains (SWD) department said that while the contracts have not been cancelled - only show cause notices been issued so far - the owners of the firms are absconding, leaving their workers in limbo. He said, "This year, work orders were also issued late. And, for the last week, due to the rain, the dumpers haven't been able to reach the sites outside Mumbai, where the silt is dumped. This has further slowed the work." According the BMC's SWD desilting website, which tracks progress of the work, the Mithi's desilting started on April 5, four days late. Also, it has consistently been behind schedule, dropping further from May 19. The two companies embroiled in the Mithi desilting scam were booked on May 6. The third company, Bhumika Transport, was blacklisted on May 10, after the BMC found it manipulating the weight of the silt extracted by mixing it with debris in nallahs in the M/East ward. "No contracts will be given to them for the next three years, but that doesn't mean their current contract is cancelled," clarified the official. Meanwhile, the recent flooding of Nallah No 10 at Saki Naka and the early arrival of the monsoon have serious raised concerns of waterlogging in nallahs across the city. Desilting of minor nallahs is also lagging - only 64% had been completed by May 27. "The minor nallahs will not meet their desilting target, but they are not really a concern. They may cause localised issues, which we will fix. Besides, it will give us a clear picture of our silt-removal targets for the future," said a senior civic official. The BMC has been accused of being unprepared for the monsoon this year after heavy showers caused severe waterlogging in many parts, including areas in South Mumbai that have never flooded before. The civic administration is now scrambling to line up contractors to fill potholes that have cropped up with the first showers, at a cost of Rs.154 crore. "The cost this year is less than half that of the previous year," said Bangar....