Heavy rain: BMC chief directs officials to take all precautions

In view of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a yellow alert for Mumbai for the next three days, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Tuesday directed officials to ensure all precautions are taken to protect citizens.

In view of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a yellow alert for Mumbai for the next three days, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Tuesday directed officials to ensure all precautions are taken to protect citizens.

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Chahal undertook a high-level meeting with ward officials, along with officials from other agencies. The civic chief directed that manholes in all 24 wards are checked and closely monitored to prevent any untoward incidents, especially in areas where there is heavy waterlogging.

Apart from senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, authorities from BEST, Mumbai Police, Central and Western Railways, Mhada, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and Mumbai Metro were also present.

Further, the BMC on Tuesday also said that it removed around 324,000 tonnes of silt from the city’s drains, adding that it has completed desilting works in the city before the monsoon. The BMC had planned to remove around 311,00 tonnes of silt, but it ended up removing 324,000 tonnes.

According to BMC officials, of the total silt removed, 43,766 tonnes was removed from the island city and remaining was removed from the eastern suburbs and western suburbs. It took 11,004 truck trips to transport all this silt from the drains to sites outside the city.

In a statement, the BMC said, “The BMC chief has ordered to immediately remove the silt from outside drains after cleaning and has asked to move it to the designated places. In all, the above 24 wards, teams of tackle water logging are deployed. Also, dewatering pumps have been installed in all the areas where water is being drained at low speeds and adequate stock of diesel are being ensured from time to time to run the pumps. Mock drills have also been conducted in all the wards on the use of these pumps.

The statement further added that hospitals should not be affected due to heavy rain in the city. It noted, “Last monsoon, Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central and JJ Hospital in Byculla were flooded. It was observed that some water was stagnant in these two important and big hospitals. In view of this, the municipal commissioner also directed to ensure that the drainage system at both these hospitals is functioning properly.”

The BMC has also directed Metro authorities to ensure that there is no waterlogging wherever there are barricades installed for Metro works.