Mumbai: BMC trying to avoid repeat of Marine Drive flooding this monsoon

After Marine Drive flooded last year due to small rocks getting stuck in the rainwater outfall at Patan Jain Road the coastal road department reinstalled tetrapods around the outfall as per the instructions from the stormwater department SWD The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC however is not sure whether this will prevent rubble from entering the outfall during extreme high tidesThe landscape of the city changes every decade as more of sea area is reclaimed resulting in unusual situations such as the flooding of the Marine Drive stretch between Churchgate and Marine Lines railway stations on July 27 2023 As a result of the flooding vehicular traffic was affected while Western Railway WR services were disrupted for more than two hoursA WR spokesperson at the time said that outfall culverts were operating at half capacity and all manholes on the west side of the tracks till Marine Drive were overflowing Afterwards the BMC issued a statement that small rocks that were swept away by powerful waves got stuck in the outfall of Patan Jain Road Though the outfall site is beyond the construction boundary of the Coastal Road tetrapods in and around the outfall were removed for the construction of the projectrsquos sea wallRubble at the same spot last year right The rainwater outfall at Patan Jain Road Marine DriveLearning from the experience the coastal road department started reinstalling tetrapods from the south side of the project for a few metres up to Marine Lines Police GymkhanaldquoAs per the SWDrsquos instructions we rearranged tetrapods around the outfall which may hinder the movement of pebbles or rubble but do not stop water flow from the drain But the outfall gets submerged even during low tide and with the heavy force of waves during extreme high tide this measure cannot be effectiverdquo said a senior official He added that continuous observation and frequent cleaning of the site are the only solution which can be done by the SWD and it is applicable for the other outfalls of the areaOfficials of the SWD department are sure about the arrangements ldquoThere are four other outfalls till Nariman Point which were protected by tetrapods during heavy tides all these years Only Patan Jain outfall was open to high tide waves in the absence of tetrapods which were removed for the work of the coastal road and was choked due to rubble Placing tetrapods will solve the issuerdquo said a concerned SWD officialAbhijeet Bangar additional commissioner of BMC and incharge of SWD said ldquoAfter last yearrsquos experience tetrapods have been arranged properly to prevent pebbles from getting into the outfall But they may not offer 100 per cent protection especially from extreme waves so we will keep inspecting the area to avoid repeating last yearrsquos incidentrdquoOther outfalls till GirgaonCoastal Road officials said the rearrangement of tetrapods beyond Police Gymkhana up to Girgaon Chowpatty will start only after the rainy season and the metal piles will prevent the force of heavy tides till thenThere are at least four other outfalls under the Coastal Road to Girgoan Chowpatty The Coastal Road department claimed that they have made similar arrangements for other outfalls ldquoThe new tetrapod arrangement will take care of the Patan Jain Shantiniketan and Police Gymkhana outfalls which are below the low tide level and a small outfall at Bal Bhavan drain which is about the tide level There isnrsquot much place to install floodgates at these outfalls But we have merged three outfalls at the Police Gymkhana Taraporewala Aquarium and Grant Medical College gymkhana into a large threebythreemetre drain which will be more than enough The outfalls and drains from Marine Lines to Worli are still with the coastal road department and havenrsquot been handed over to us Though the work is mostly complete they will hand over it after the rainy season But we are preparing to keep the city floodfreerdquo said an SWD official