Mumbai Rains: BMC and Railways identified the spots that led to flooding

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recently identified seven locations adjoining the Central and Harbour railway line, which acts as key contributors to Mumbai’s flooding situation.

A meeting was carried out between railway officials and BMC administration on Monday, September 30, and have jointly taken a call to augment the existing drainage lines to ensure smooth flow of water.

This step was taken by the civic body five days after Mumbai came to a standstill following a heavy shower on September 25, which recorded over 100 mm rainfall. It led to the halting of suburban trains between 8.30 pm and 11.30 pm.

As per reports revealed by the BMC officials, locations on central line include the railway yard at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT); storm water drains identified at Bhandup station, Vidyavihar stations and connecting areas between Sion and Matunga and Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg.

At the harbour line, the locations identified include railway tracks between Sewri-Wadala and Kurla-Mankhurd.

The key reason for waterlogging was owing to the drainage network getting clogged, officials added. The railway tracks have been encroached by slums dwellers, due to which all the people living there dump their daily waste in the drainages resulting in the tracks getting inundated.

Meanwhile, following the meeting, Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects), said that a decision was taken on covering the existing drainage networks with protective nets to prevent waste disposal on them.

A choke-point was created following heavy rains that eventually led to the tracks getting submerged underneath the water since the diameter of the drains are not very wide. Therefore, he emphasized the need to widened the existing drainage networks that run from below the tracks.

Bangar further added that many of these drainage widening projects that require augmentation have already been taken up for implementation and needs to be started at the earliest. However, in some cases the work couldn’t begin considering there are issues of relocating project affected parties (PAP).

Both the agencies will continue to ensure these works are completed before monsoon, Bangar concluded.