Railway general manager goes to the moon and back

Anil Kumar Lahoti with his team inspecting Moon Furniture on Saturday

First week into his new assignment in the Central Railway as General Manager, Anil Kumar Lahoti seems to be on a roll. He expressed his desire to visit ‘Moon Furniture' located in Kurla, where no official of a General Manager rank has been before. Lahoti even took with him the entire entourage on Saturday.

Moon Furniture is named after a local shop and is a significant monsoon lingo at Central Railway and Mumbai Municipal Corporation's control room as it is the point where the BMC's floodgates onto the Mithi River are placed, which are key to flooding at chronic spots in Sion, Kurla, Chunabhatti and a crucial point of harbour line as well as the main bifurcation.

"I wanted to see it first-hand and hence, went to the Mithi riverbed, where all stormwater drain systems connected in and around station area of Sion and Chunabhatti merge. I even discussed in detail the initiatives being taken to prevent flooding," he said. He also inspected the various pumping stations working to drain the water from station area and discussed the future plan of action needed to prevent waterlogging at vulnerable locations in station areas.

Officials said that as per an analysis following the June 2021 flooding, it was found necessary to expedite the construction of Mahul pumping station that had originally been recommended by the Chitale Committee after the 2005 floods.

The pumping station plan remains on paper. BMC officials told mid-day that they were pursuing the issue. "Mahul's land was under the salt commissioner. Also, the land is surrounded by mangroves, and so, there are environmental issues. The BMC has sent a letter to the salt commissioner, but is yet to receive a response," an official said on condition of anonymity.