Nobody can promise zero flooding in Mumbai: BMC additional chief

Tackling the issue of waterlogging is a gradual and long-term process, and with a focused approach towards tackling individual spots the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has managed to mitigate or completely prevent flooding at various spots across the city, civic authorities said on Monday, in response to HT’s annual audit about Mumbai’s monsoon preparedness.

P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner incharge of the storm water drains department in BMC, said, “When we factor in variables such as very heavy rain in a short duration, we have to be ready that some time will be taken for water to completely drain out from waterlogged spots in the city. Nobody can promise zero waterlogging in the city.”

Over the years, the BMC has worked towards bringing down the number of spots. For example, the waterlogging problem at Dahisar subway has almost been solved, Velrasu said.

In some instances, water receding time has reduced drastically following civic work, Velrasu added. “This year, the stormwater drains department has cleaned nullahs thoroughly as part of pre-monsoon preparedness. Cleaning a nullah involves removing of muck [silt], as well as floating garbage. But once the nullah has been cleaned, nearby residents throw garbage back into the channel within days. Visible floating garbage does not indicate that the nullah has not been desilted.”

“Besides, the BMC has a pre-decided quantity of how much silt needs to be removed from nullah. We never scrape the very bottom of nullah beds to remove silt while doing pre-monsoon desilting work. Hence after the work is satisfactorily completed, some amount of silt is likely to stay in the nullah,” he added.

HT’s annual monsoon audit

On June 23, Hindustan Times conducted its annual monsoon audit with the help of three experts. HT visited seven spots — three nullahs in the western suburbs, two nullahs in the eastern suburbs, and two chronic waterlogging spots in the island city. The panel of experts comprised Rohit Shinkre, senior urban planner and architect; Dilip Kamlakar Pathak, retired deputy engineer of the storm water drains department, BMC; and Udaykumar Shiroorkar, retired assistant engineer, BMC.

In a three-part series on Friday and Saturday, HT reported the panel’s verdict post the audit. The three experts on HT’s panel concluded that Mumbai is not ready to handle the monsoon this year, again. While the BMC’s effort to stay ahead of its pre-monsoon work cannot be denied, not enough has been done on ground to prepare the city for the rains, as nullahs are filled with floating garbage, and silt as well, the experts said. The BMC has claimed it completed 104% of nullah desilting work across the city.

30-35 chronic waterlogging spots

The BMC has chalked out a list of 30-35 chronic waterlogging spots with help from the civic disaster management cell, where there are waterlogging-related complaints every monsoon. “We have decided to address every area specifically. We are working on tackling these spots with a focused approach,” Velrasu said. The BMC is now focusing on tackling waterlogging at points that choke rail and road traffic on major roads across the city.

“Hindmata and Gandhi market areas are waterlogged every monsoon, and affect traffic on Babasaheb Ambedkar Road for several hours at a stretch. We have found dedicated solutions to tackle waterlogging in these two points. Work will be completed within the next 15 to 20 days. The next year, these two spots will not flood, and traffic will remain unaffected,” Velrasu said.

Rainfall intensity has increased

“I have said this in the past also that we have to factor in climate change when it comes to rainfall. Now, for example, on June 9 this year, we had almost around 250mm of rainfall in five-six hours. We need to understand that the situation becomes difficult in such cases.”