Mumbai rains: Flooding hotspots hold up to scrutiny, 95,21,00,000!

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has spent approximately Rs 270 crore to keep Gandhi Market Hindmata and Milan subway floodfree These spots were waterlogged on Monday but residents feel the water receded faster than previous years BMC officials said they pumped out 9521 million litres of water from the three sites and the areas wonrsquot be floodfree during torrential rainfall but the projects definitely helpedHindmataMilan subway between Vile Parle and Santacruz falls in a lowlying area and is always flooded even amid normal rainfall The stormwater department of the BMC constructed an underground water storage tank under a park adjacent to the subway to provide relief from flooding Sushil Pandey a resident of Santacruz said ldquoOn Monday the subway was waterlogged for a few hours but later on the water receded when the rain stopped By afternoon it was open for trafficrdquo Another resident Shila Singh echoed the sentiment saying ldquoOn Tuesday there wasnrsquot any waterlogging but on Monday the subway was waterlogged till noonGandhi Market after Mondayrsquos heavy rain PicsBMCOnce the rain receded the water was pumped outrdquo She added ldquoBefore thetank was built the subway would be submerged for three to four days and thatrsquos why the flyover was built In comparison to that the subway is opened within a few hours The BMC constructed tanks at two spots one at Pramod Mahajan Kala Park in Dadar West and St Xavierrsquos Ground in Parel Dhanashree Shingaonkar who stays near Hindmata said ldquoEvery year water would accumulate at Hindmata early in the morning I heard about it this time from the neighbours But by the time the children went to school the water had already receded For the last two years there hasnrsquot been waterlogging like earlier days when after very moderate rain the road got floodedrdquoThe BMC hasnrsquot constructed holding tanks at Gandhi Market but a mini pumping station with five highcapacity pumps to disperse water into the Bharat Nagar culvertHindmata which tends to get flooded every monsoon on July 7 2023 PicAshish RajeldquoOn Monday the road was flooded early in the morning Therain had stopped around 7 am and there was a low tide too Still it took until11 am to dewater the roads with all pumps A truck and luxury bus halted in the middle of the road due to a technical snag and it exacerbated traffic congestion On Tuesday there wasnrsquot any waterloggingrdquo said Nikhil Desai a resident of Matunga Abhijeet Bangar additional municipal commissioner told midday ldquoThere wasnrsquot any issue at Milan subway and the tank helped the reduce water level fastMotorists had a tough time at Kingrsquos Circle on Monday evening PicShadab KhanAt Gandhi Market there isnrsquot any tank so everything depended on pumping capacity which fell short in such heavy rain of 250 to 300 mm in just five tosix hours We can see whether a pumping capacity can be increased but it also depends upon the flow of the nullah If it already overflows then even pumps wonrsquot helprdquo Bangar added ldquoThe capacity of Hindmatarsquos tanks is 65000 cubic metres of water every hour that is approximately 45 mm of rainfall per hour But if the rainfall exceeds this water accumulates on the road The rainfall on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday was about 55 mm per hour for almost five to six hoursThe Milan subway being constructed PicFile PhotoMilan subwayThe BMC constructed a holding pond with a capacity of 25 crore litres The pond is supposed to hold water accumulated in the subway during heavy rain when the drains overflow After the rain subsides this water is released into the drain The pond wasnrsquot ready in July 2022 and the subway was submerged on two occasions But it was completed by the end of July and during August 2022 helped the subway run during heavy showers The civic body however floated another tender of R16 crore for the remaining flood redressal work at Milan subway in October 2022 BMC officials then said that the earlier estimation was based on a rough calculation and they encountered a rock while digging a pit so the anchoring and piling work increased Cost of the project R50 crore Water pumped out 1944 million litresHindmataThe BMC constructed tanks at two spots one at Pramod Mahajan Kala Park in Dadar West and St Xavierrsquos Ground in Parel In 2021 the corporationconstructed tanks of 362 crore litres and 105 crore litres at the respective locations The extension of the tank at St Xavierrsquos was completed before the 2022 monsoon The combined capacity of the three tanks is 45 crore litres The BMC installed an additional four pumps to the earlier capacity of nine pumps and additional drains on both sides of Dr Ambedkar Road to pump out water to St Xavierrsquos tanks Project cost R195 crore Water pumped out 5597 million litresGandhi MarketThe BMC hasnrsquot constructed holding tanks here but a mini pumping station with five highcapacity pumps to disperse water into the Bharat Nagar culvert provides relief to the market area The crosssection pipeline has been installed to shift water from the farthest lane of the opposite road at Kingrsquos Circle Project Cost Rs 25 crore Water pumped out 198 million litres25 crore LitresCapacity of holding pond near Milan subway