Fridge, furniture choked Mogra nullah causing flooding at Andheri Subway: BMC

Civic body workers in Mumbai retrieved a fridge, beds, cupboards and other items from the Mogra canal, causing flooding at Andheri Subway. The debris had blocked the storm water drainage system, leading to accusations that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was responsible. However, officials said that garbage dumped by the public had also choked the drains. Six water pumps and flood gates have been installed in the area to cope with heavy rain.

Mumbai: The civic body’s conservancy workers on Sunday fished out a 165-litre fridge along with cupboards, beds, tarpaulins, rubber pipes and other materials carried by Mogra canal, flowing near Andheri Subway, which disrupted the storm water drainage (SWD) system and caused flooding at the subway during the first heavy rainfall this monsoon on Saturday.

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While Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received flak for the flooding, a review of the subway on Sunday and the junk pulled out of drains from Mogra nullah indicated that the corporation alone is not responsible for the monsoon mess. The garbage dumped by people indiscriminately have been found choking the drains, leading to the flooding.

The officials, employees and workers of the SWD of the BMC as well as the K East department had quickly drained the accumulated water by restoring all the systems within an hour on Saturday.

P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (projects) inspected and reviewed the site on Sunday along with other officials. He had directed additional planning and measures to prevent accumulation of rainwater.

Andheri subway is one of the most low-lying localities in the city. Geographically, it’s shaped like a saucer. Mogra nullah flows right next to this underground route.

From the source of Mogra nullah to Andheri subway, the distance is around 2.5kms. Incidentally, this flow of the drain has a slope of almost 13 metres, and this makes the flow strong. Whenever there is heavy rain, draining rainwater in this area poses a challenge.

To overcome this, six water pumps and flood gates have been constructed at three locations in the Andheri underpass area. This system has been set up at three places in Andheri— Millennium Building, Veera Desai Marg, Andheri subway.

The SWD completed the installation of these six pumps of 3,000 cubic metres per hour at three places. As an additional measure, two pumps of 1,000 cubic metres have been installed.

The drain has also been fitted with a steel mesh on the eastern side to ensure that the system runs smoothly during heavy rains, and to prevent the pumps from getting stuck in it. The mesh is expected to let the current flow on by intercepting any floating debris.

“On Saturday during the heavy rains, a large amount of garbage floated towards Andheri underpass, along with the flow of the Mogra drain. This included a 165 litre-capacity refrigerator, cupboards, beds, and other heavy materials and items such as tarpaulin, rubber pipe, nylon mats etc.,” said the BMC.

All these materials got stuck in the garbage nets in the canal adjacent to Andheri Bhuyari Road. All other waste that followed was also caught in the net. As a result, the drain overflowed onto the road and blocked the underpass.

Due to floating debris and heavy water pressure, the steel mesh broke. Meanwhile, a few locals shut down the lifting system, objecting to water from the other side being pumped and released into their area. As a consequence, water accumulated in the area.

Even in this situation, the officers and the staff of SWD as well as K East Department handled the situation with patience and acted swiftly. The nets in the drains were immediately removed, and the flow of water was smoothed out by removing as much floating debris as possible.

Also, by clearing up the misunderstanding among the concerned locals, the lifting system was restarted. Therefore, within an hour, the flooding water in Andheri subway was drained out and the traffic was restored.

As a part of preparing for monsoon, the drains have been desilted. However, garbage dumped by people is often found floating in the drains, and the BMC has to remove it frequently and ensure that the drains continue to flow.

At Sakinaka, too, roads were waterlogged and choked due to floating garbage on Sunday.