Relief for flood-prone Mumbai society: BMC to widen, clean drain

The BMC will also desilt the drain, demolish illegal encroachments along it

After several years, the civic body finally has a plan in place to solve the yearly flooding problem in Bandra. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to widen and clean the Chamdawadi storm water drain, which will give relief to residents of Jay Bharat housing society in Khar (West), which gets flooded with at least 4 feet of water every monsoon.

The widening of the Chamdawadi storm water drain will give relief to residents of Jay Bharat CHS in Khar. (Kunal Patil)

Residents of affected areas face property damage, power outage, lack of safe drinking water and fear of water-borne diseases due to flooding every year. BMC officials confirmed that they will take up widening, desilting and encroachment demolition work, along with the railway authorities, on the nullah that carries water out from the Western suburbs to the Mithi River through Kalanagar junction.

Chief engineer of storm water drains (Western suburbs), V H Khandkar, told HT, “The 4-10 metre wide culverts that pass through under the railway will be widened to 7-14 metre. We have given the work order to a contractor, who will start after the ward office removes the encroaching structures. The work will take two years to complete.”

Alka Sasane, assistant municipal commissioner of Bandra (East), said, “We are checking how many of the 277 encroaching structures on the 1.6 km-long stretch are eligible for rehabilitation. Demolition work will start by December 10.”

Residents of Jay Bharat society said they have been suffering since the last 50-60 years. “We have been trying to get BMC to solve problem since 2005 . The storm water needs to be diverted directly to the sea. Many families now want to move out of this low-lying area,” said Surindra Khubchandani, who has been residing in the society since 11 years.

Rahul Pai, secretary of the society, said, “The BMC keeps planning, but there is no implementation. Desilting should be done frequently during monsoon. Widening of the nullah could definitely help solve the problem.”