Mumbai: BMC to use CCTV cameras to fix drains across island city

The CCTV cameras will help solve issues that couldn’t have been done manually, civic officials said. Representation pic

With the onset of monsoon just two months away, the BMC has geared up its preparations to prevent waterlogging and flooding in the city as much as possible. The civic body said a new initiative is being adopted to prepare the storm water drains in the island city.

The BMC will send CCTV cameras down the drainage manholes to check the strength of the British-era storm water drains and find the obstacles through the system. An assessment report will be prepared and repair and cleaning work will be done accordingly, said civic officials. The CCTV cameras will help solve issues that couldn't have been done manually, they said. The CCTV cameras, with the capability to rotate 360 degree, will be released into the manholes through a crawler, and will move ahead inside the drains automatically.

"This will speed up the work by understanding the condition of the drains and also help in receding the drainage water during monsoon, thus helping reduce waterlogging and flooding," said a civic official. There are 38,000 manholes across the city, including over 3,750 in nine wards of the Island city.