10 July,2011 07:11 AM IST | | Rinkita Gurav
For 50 years, residents of Jay Bharat society at Khar station have been grappling with four-feet high floods. BMC corporator blames Railways for not widening narrow drains that don't allow gushing water to pass into Mahim creek
For Nearly as long as India has been independent, residents of Jay Bharat Society in Khar (West), near Khar railway station, have had to deal with four feet-high waves in their compound and street outside their societies, and the case was no different on June 11 and July 8 this year, the two days when the city saw over 100 mm of rainfall this monsoon.
Heavy flooding makes the area in and around Jay Bharat Society inaccessible,
as these pictures of the July 8 flooding show
This, after repeated pleas to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to deal with the flooding that occurs every year, have yielded no results.
On Friday, 200 families living in the society were under house arrest. A ground floor resident said, on condition of anonymity, said, "Last year, we were promised that the storm water drains in the area would be widened, but nothing was done. This situation occurs whenever there is heavy rain. All we could do was wait for the water levels to recede."
As expected, BMC authorities put the heavy downpour down to the area being a low-lying one, while local corporator Kavita Rodrigues passed the buck onto the Railways for not cleaning and widening the drains that pass under Khar station. Surindra Khubchandani, a resident, said, "The ward officer and the engineers were here during the flooding. They should have planned and finished widening of the storm water drains before the monsoon set in, not when it was raining cats and dogs. Just because it's a low lying area doesn't mean the authorities do nothing."
The water flow begins at Pali Hill, goes on to Linking Road, and then to Jay Bharat Society, from where it passes via the drains underneath the railway lines to finally flow into Mahim creek. "But the nullahs are not clean. Obstructions prevent the water from flowing through."
Manik Kshirsagar, ward officer, H West Ward, said, "We have written several letters to the Railways to clean the drains and widen them. Since it is a low lying area, water tends to accumulate."
Local corporator Kavita Rodriques said, "If the BMC cleans the drains but the Railways don't act, it won't help. We had a meeting with railway officials who refused to carry out any work. They claim trains cannot be interrupted to widen the nullahs that run beneath the tracks."
