Mumbai Gears Up for Monsoon: BMC Aims to Curb Waterlogging with Desilting, Pumps

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced measures to address recurrent waterlogging issues in chronic areas. To tackle this, the civic body plans to undertake thorough desilting of drainage channels within a 50-meter radius of these trouble spots. Additionally, they aim to promptly repair potholes to mitigate the risk of waterlogging.

The civic body has identified 453 water logging sites in Mumbai. “Out of these, 355 places will not get flooded, and works on 98 places are in progress,” said a senior official. A few of the major major chronic water logging spots are Milan Subway, Andheri subway, Marol, Low-lying areas around Parel, Wadala Truck Terminus and Antop Hill, Kalpana Cinema in Kurla, Nana Chowk in Grant Road ,  Kalanagar Junction in Bandra, Dahisar among others.

Waterlogging during heavy rainfall in Mumbai is common and there are some chronic spots where waterlogging is reported almost at every monsoon.

While the BMC managed to keep Hindmata and Gandhi Market flood-free during the 2023 monsoon with underwater holding tanks, the civic body will rely on heavy-duty dewatering pumps at other locations. Nikhil Desai, a member of the F North Citizens’ Forum, noted that the underwater holding tank kept these two locations flood-free up to 70 percent. “In case of 100 mm of rainfall in a day coupled with high tide, flooding cannot be ruled out at Gandhi Market as the spot is saucer-shaped,” said Desai. However, he added that the model should be replicated at other places.

Abhijit Bangar, additional commissioner (project) informed that the focus is on the 50 meters radius of such spots. “All the major as well as minor nallah will be desilted properly and we will ensure that there is no choking,” said Bangar, adding that chances of frequent water logging is due to silt available in the nallah.

The BMC will install a total of 481 dewatering pumps in low-lying areas during this monsoon, with the civic body expected to spend around Rs 1.25 crores. While the civic body claims to have reduced the number of flooding spots, the number of dewatering pumps to flush out excessive water from low-lying areas has increased. Last year, it installed a total of 477 pumps. In addition to dewatering pumps, the civic body will ensure proper slopes on roads to prevent waterlogging.