Mumbaikars slam BMC for inadequate preparations ahead of monsoon

A day after unseasonal showers wreaked havoc across the city citizens slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC for failing to adequately prepare for the monsoon demanding that the city should be completely rainready by midMay every yearThe civic body traditionally completes premonsoon work which mainly comprises nullah desilting by May 31 The civic body has been attempting to remove 963 lakh metric tonnes of silt from all nullahs and the Mithi river However 6422 per cent of the work 618 lakh metric tonnes has been done So far only 5382 per cent of desilting work pertaining to minor nullahs and roadside drains has been completed And out of the 302 lakh metric tonnes of silt that was to be removed from major nullahs the BMC has only gotten rid of 212 metric tonnesAnjali Ramchandran 28 Malad West resident right Ashish Pathak Andheri resident who had to take a long detourMangesh Mishra a Sakinaka resident said ldquoThe unseasonal rain seen on Tuesday night calls into question the authoritiesrsquo monsoon preparedness There was waterlogging at Andheri Eastrdquo Pushpak T an Andheri East resident told midday that Nagardas Road was badly waterlogged ldquoWe have been witnessing such showers since midMay for the past few years The authorities should complete all premonsoon work on a war footingrdquo he saidAnjali Ramchandran 28 a Malad West resident said ldquoLuckily I returned from work earlier than usual yesterday May 20 and the rain was not that severe around 730 pm to 8 pm However travelling was troublesome and the traffic situation was bad Waterlogging was experienced in Andheri and the domino effect was felt up to Malad It was difficult to walk in our lane where the concreting work had not been completedrdquoAndheri resident Ashish Pathak 39 said ldquoAround 830 pm on Tuesday when I was returning home on my bike from Vile Parle Nagardas Road was choked and flooded I was hardly 10 minutes away from my home but due to the situation I had to turn back and take the Western Express Highway which was congested A 15minute journey turned into a 40minute ride Had the drains been cleaned properly none of this would have happened Why didnrsquot the BMC take forecasts seriouslyrdquoAnil Galgali an activist and Sakinaka resident said ldquoDespite people complaining about waterlogging there was no response as such from the BMC Areas such as Sakinaka Kurla and Andheri bore the brunt of nonstop rainrdquoAccording to the activist in many areas slabs have been placed on top of drains exacerbating waterlogging ldquoAndheri used to have a better drainage system and water would flow naturally off the streets but the construction of the cement concrete roads along with Metro lines has led to the obstruction of water flowrdquo he said Galgali stated that reviews that were to be conducted for infrastructure projects had not been happening leading to the accumulation of stagnant water in lowlying areasSubway woesDhaval Shah director of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizenrsquos Association said ldquoThe Andheri subway lies on a lowlying area as it is next to roads such as Swami Vivekananda Road which has a threefoot elevation from the subway Similarly the new Nagardas Road to the east of the subway is a tapereddown road whose slope allows water to get into the subway leading to the pooling of water during heavy rainsrdquo Shah stated that the mogra nullah acts as a stormwater drain for the subway but work related to its pumping station hasnrsquot started for many years ldquoBeing a city that faces heavy rains we should have highcapacity stormwater drains In the absence of this we often see choking at the narrow end of flow paths When this gets bad water pressure fails to move debris leading to stagnationrdquo he addedCivic indifferenceResidents of Trimurti and Avishkaar societies in Dahisar claimed that civic authorities turned a deaf ear to repeated pleas to remove a tree that had collapsed An Anand Nagar resident Rajesh Pandya claimed he had been calling the BMC for over a month to get a nearby stormwater drain cleaned ldquoThough they started cleaning the nullah on one of the service roads dugup mud that was left by the roadside has accumulated in the drain choking it againAn official from R North wardrsquos maintenance department said ldquoWe have started cleaning all nullahs and are aiming to finish the work by May 31 Around 14 pumps have been installed in all of the wardrsquos areas that see major waterloggingrdquo Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar told midday that desilting would be completed on time ldquoJogeshwari received around 60 mm of rain on May 20 We will identify the local causes of waterlogging and will work to solve the problemrdquo he addedatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params