Mumbai: Dewatering pumps at Hindmata, Gandhi Mkt bring relief from waterlogging

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started operating two of six newly installed underground dewatering pumps at Hindamata, and all four underground dewatering pumps at Gandhi Market on Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road, during heavy downpour this week, bringing relief in the chronic waterlogging spots to some extent

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started operating two of six newly installed underground dewatering pumps at Hindamata, and all four underground dewatering pumps at Gandhi Market on Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road, during heavy downpour this week, bringing relief in the chronic waterlogging spots to some extent.

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The entire project will be completed by the end of August, P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner in charge of the stormwater drains department said.

The entire project of constructing underground water-holding silos to do away with logged water in these two areas is not yet complete. However, the civic body activated two pumps at Hindamata, each with a capacity to drain out 3,000 litres of water per second, and one out of four pumps at Gandhi Market, reducing water receding time to less than a couple of hours, and no waterlogging at Gandhi Market area, during rainfall earlier this week.

At earlier times, water receding time for Hindamata and Gandhi Market was anywhere between six hours to over 12 hours, depending on the amount of rainfall received in the area. As these spots are located on the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Road, logged water would affect traffic between the island city and the eastern suburbs.

“We have begun to operate two pumps at Hindamata, and all at Gandhi market, as and when is necessary. Over the past few days of rainfall, we have already operated the pumps two-three times,” Velrasu said.

As part of its plan to tackle individual chronic waterlogging spots, BMC has installed four large dewatering pumps under the flyover at Hindamata, and one under the carriageway at Hindamata junction. These will pump logged rainwater to Pramod Mahajan Udyan at Senapati Bapat Road in Elphinstone with yet another dewatering pump, where BMC is in the process of constructing two underground water holding tanks. Water from Hindamata will also be pumped to St Xavier’s ground in Parel, where construction of the underground water holding tank is complete. From here, water can be reused for non-potable purposes. Similarly, the pumps at Gandhi Market will pump water directly to a railway culvert in Matunga.

Velrasu said, “Presently, the entire system that pumps water to St Xavier’s ground is activated and we have used it a couple of times in the last few days. The system that will pump water to Pramod Mahajan Udyan, complete with the underground tanks, will be completed by end of August. BMC is also using these pumps at present to drain water into existing drains at Hindamata.”

The silos at the ground in Parel and the garden at Elphinstone, where work is going on right now, have a total water holding capacity of the tanks at Parel and Elphinstone alone is up to 17,000 cubic metres, as part of phase one. After the construction of these tanks is completed, more space is left at both these open spaces to construct more silos, which will augment water holding capacity to 50,000 cubic metres.

The cost of the first phase is ₹60 crore, while the cost of the entire project is ₹130 crore. Based on the success of this pilot project, BMC plans to construct similar underground dewatering and water holding systems at Postal Colony in Chembur, Oberoi Mall in Goregaon, and Mahalaxmi in south Mumbai.