A first since 2005: Chembur society flooding worries residents

Every monsoon, residents of Sindhi Society, which is a colony of over 162 plots, witness waterlogged streets. However, this year is the first time since the deluge of 2005 that water entered most homes, leaving the residents running from pillar to post to ensure it does not repeat.

On June 9 this year, when heavy rain caused severe waterlogging across Mumbai, disrupting public life, most ground-floor homes in Chembur’s Sindhi Society were submerged in at least 3-feet deep water and muck, as furniture floated around their rooms, elevators in multi-storey buildings were waterlogged and non-functional for days afterwards, and vehicles parked in residential premises were damaged.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities, Sindhi Society is located in a low-lying area and is prone to flooding due to its natural topography. (Sourced)

In response to the annual monsoon audit conducted by HT on June 23, residents from Sindhi society reached out to HT, sharing similar problems. “There was a little over knee-deep water on the ground floor in my home. A lot of our furniture was damaged, and we had to simply wait for the water to recede from the street and then out of our home. We then picked up buckets, mugs, jars and mops, to dry up our waterlogged rooms,” said Hitesh Rupani, who lives in an independent ground and two-storey in Sindhi society.

While residents with homes on higher floors were luckier in this regard, Dutta Wadhone, who lives on the second floor of a seven-storey building, said, “Water did not enter our home luckily, but it submerged the elevator shaft in the high-rise building next to ours. The building's lift was non-functional for four days after June 9, and residents who live on the topmost floors were forced to use the staircase.”

Every monsoon, residents of Sindhi Society, which is a colony of over 162 plots, witness waterlogged streets. However, this year is the first time since the deluge of 2005 that water entered most homes, leaving the residents running from pillar to post to ensure it does not repeat.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities, Sindhi Society is located in a low-lying area and is prone to flooding due to its natural topography.

A senior civic official from the storm water drains department said, “I have not yet inspected this particular waterlogging spot after June 9. However, over the years, as road level has increased due to repair and resurfacing work, the private premises in this area have naturally become low-lying. BMC has individual plans for mitigating waterlogging in chronic flooding spots. In this case, the Mahul pumping station will bring relief.”

Owing to repeated encounters with waterlogging every year, residents have come up with solutions for their houses.

Davinder Gupta, who lives in an independent building inside Sindhi Society premises, raised the elevation of his entire house by 4feet, after the 2005 deluge. He said, “Earlier, if water entered my house during the monsoon, I have seen my fridge being lifted off the floor, and float on the water surface. I raised the elevation of my entire house after the 2005 deluge. However, I still had ankle deep water in my house this monsoon.”

Prithviraj Chauhan, additional municipal commissioner of the M/West ward, with jurisdiction over this area, said, “Immediately after June 9, I visited the area and directed the localised work to be taken up to mitigate waterlogging during the rest of the monsoon. BMC staff checked all drains in the area end to end for blockages. I also directed all drains in the area to be inspected and re-cleaned.”

Chauhan attributed the incident partly to the very heavy rain in Chembur on June 9. He said, “Chembur recorded among the highest amount of rainfall across the city, in a very short span.”

Residents of this society met with their elected representatives earlier this week, seeking a resolution to the problem. Rahul Shewale, MP representing the area, said, “I met the residents and have taken note of their issues. The BMC is already working on short-term localised solutions for this problem. In the long run, once the Mahul pumping station is set up and operational, it will bring relief to waterlogging problems in this area.”