Pre-monsoon work delayed, city may see waterlogging at 35 spots

Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began its pre-monsoon drain cleaning and nullah desilting work late last month, the city is likely to have around

Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began its pre-monsoon drain cleaning and nullah desilting work late last month, the city is likely to have around 35 spots with waterlogging during this year’s rains.

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According to BMC’s original plan for monsoon preparedness before the lockdown due to Covid-19, 69 waterlogging spots were identified across the city. The BMC had planned to complete work on 45 spots before monsoon and leave the work remaining 24 spots for later.

However, a senior civic official said, “Since lockdown started in March, we were not able to complete ongoing work on all 45 waterlogging spots. Work on some of the spots apart from the 24 spots will remain incomplete for this monsoon. Ongoing work will be brought to a safe status before the monsoon if it cannot be completed.”

At the beginning of the lockdown, there was no availability of labourers and work was halted, the officer said.

Meanwhile, the BMC has started desilting over 280 nullahs in the city and cleaning of underground stormwater drains. As work was not progressing in the first month of the lockdown, most crucial spots like the Mithi river and its adjoining roads and low lying areas have now been chosen to prevent waterlogging.

BMC is working on laying a 240-metre long and 1.8-metre wide stormwater drain from Kalanagar in Bandra to Mithi. This will give relief to residents of Bandra (East) and Kalanagar areas. Flood gates are also being installed where Mithi meets the sea to ensure water does not flow inward at the time of high tide during rains. Nullahs leading to Mithi river are being desilted on priority, the officer said.

An officer from the stormwater drains department said, “Most of the labourers needed to complete the work before May 30 have been brought back by contractors. We plan to wrap up the on-going work by May 25, and keep a buffer of five days.”