Mumbai: Not just water, sewage, too, clogs Andheri subway!

The Andheri subway, closed at least twice due to flooding this year, last Friday evening

Not only rainwater but also filth tends to accumulate in the Andheri subway. To accommodate sewage flow, the civic body is trying to increase the size of a proposed drainage line parallel to the Mogra nullah, but a space crunch makes this challenging.

Even widening the existing network and laying another drain line to increase capacity will prove insufficient and the subway will be submerged as usual in the rainy season. Meanwhile, the BMC will not use high-capacity pumps this time as they weren't useful last year and the subway may remain closed more than 30 times this year.

Last monsoon, the Andheri subway was closed to traffic 21 times. Even though there is hardly any rain in the city this year, the subway was closed at least twice so far. With the ‘above normal rain' prediction by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a BMC official estimates the subway may need to close at least 30 times in the coming days. "The subway is saucer-shaped and there is a steep slope so water accumulates quickly even if there is rain at the far east side of Andheri and not at the spot. The widening of Mogra nullah is not possible due to encroachment on both sides, which leaves us with hardly any options," said a civic official.

Drainage work

The BMC has already started drainage line widening work worth R100 crore on Andheri West side, which will take at least another three years. In addition, the civic body will lay another drainage line parallel to Mogra nullah. The detailed project report was already submitted with a suggestion to lay a 6x2.5-foot drain pipe under the railway track from east to west to get rid of excess water. The BMC was supposed to float a tender worth about Rs 209 crore in June but there was a discussion at the senior level about increasing the size of the drain to increase its capacity as there is sewage flow mixed with rainwater. There are encroachments on both sides of the nullah and sewage flows in it. This occurs at almost every other nullah in the city but the Mogra nullah issue is directly affecting the Andheri subway traffic.

The Andheri subway after a shower on July 21, 2023. Pic/Anurag Ahire

"There is dry weather flow which should be tackled at the sewerage operation department. As there isn't any remedy in the near future, there was a discussion about increasing the size of the stormwater drain. But due to space crunch and the necessity for it to be under railway tracks, the width has now increased by half a foot. It will also increase the cost by Rs 40 crore," said an official from the stormwater drainage department. So the new size of the drain will be 6.5x2.5 feet. But this also won't solve the issue, said a civic official. The nullah carries out water from the east to the west side and it has to be widened. The construction of the Mogra pumping station has been halted for years for one reason or the other.

The BMC also tried to use high-capacity water pumps last year, but it didn't yield the expected results. So this year the corporation won't use pumps either and keep the subway shut in case of waterlogging.

The corporation has somewhat succeeded in tackling waterlogging issues at Hindmata (Parel), Gandhi Market at King's Circle and Milan subway (Santacruz) by implementing various measures like water storage tanks, improving drainage network and high capacity pumps. But the Andheri subway eluded the tackled spots' list and instead, the BMC installed digital signboards in Andheri East to inform commuters about the status of the subway and avoid traffic jams.

30
No. of times Andheri subway may shut during this monsoon

Rs 209cr
Estimated cost for new size drainage line parallel to nullah