A day after unseasonal showers wreaked havoc across the city, citizens slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for failing to adequately prepare for the monsoon, demanding that the city should be completely rain-ready by mid-May every year.
The civic body traditionally completes pre-monsoon work, which mainly comprises nullah desilting, by May 31. The civic body has been attempting to remove 9.63 lakh metric tonnes of silt from all nullahs and the Mithi river. However, 64.22 per cent of the work (6.18 lakh metric tonnes) has been done. So far, only 53.82 per cent of desilting work pertaining to minor nullahs and roadside drains has been completed. And out of the 3.02 lakh metric tonnes of silt that was to be removed from major nullahs, the BMC has only gotten rid of 2.12 metric tonnes.
Anjali Ramchandran, 28, Malad West resident (right) Ashish Pathak, Andheri resident who had to take a long detour
Mangesh Mishra, a Sakinaka resident, said, “The unseasonal rain seen on Tuesday night calls into question the authorities’ monsoon preparedness. There was waterlogging at Andheri East.” Pushpak T, an Andheri East resident, told mid-day that Nagardas Road was badly waterlogged. “We have been witnessing such showers since mid-May for the past few years. The authorities should complete all pre-monsoon work on a war footing,” he said.
Anjali Ramchandran, 28, a Malad West resident, said, “Luckily, I returned from work earlier than usual yesterday [May 20], and the rain was not that severe around 7.30 pm to 8 pm. However, travelling was troublesome, and the traffic situation was bad. Waterlogging was experienced in Andheri, and the domino effect was felt up to Malad. It was difficult to walk in our lane where the concreting work had not been completed.”
Andheri resident Ashish Pathak, 39, said, “Around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, when I was returning home on my bike from Vile Parle, Nagardas Road was choked and flooded. I was hardly 10 minutes away from my home, but due to the situation, I had to turn back and take the Western Express Highway, which was congested. A 15-minute journey turned into a 40-minute ride. Had the drains been cleaned properly, none of this would have happened. Why didn’t the BMC take forecasts seriously?”
Anil Galgali, an activist and Sakinaka resident, said, “Despite people complaining about waterlogging, there was no response as such from the BMC. Areas such as Sakinaka, Kurla and Andheri bore the brunt of non-stop rain.”
According to the activist, in many areas, slabs have been placed on top of drains, exacerbating waterlogging. “Andheri used to have a better drainage system, and water would flow naturally off the streets, but the construction of the cement concrete roads along with Metro lines has led to the obstruction of water flow,” he said. Galgali stated that reviews that were to be conducted for infrastructure projects had not been happening, leading to the accumulation of stagnant water in low-lying areas.
Subway woes
Dhaval Shah, director of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association, said, “The Andheri subway lies on a low-lying area as it is next to roads such as Swami Vivekananda Road, which has a three-foot elevation from the subway. Similarly, the new Nagardas Road to the east of the subway is a tapered-down road whose slope allows water to get into the subway, leading to the pooling of water during heavy rains.” Shah stated that the mogra nullah acts as a stormwater drain for the subway, but work related to its pumping station hasn’t started for many years. “Being a city that faces heavy rains, we should have high-capacity stormwater drains. In the absence of this, we often see choking at the narrow end of flow paths. When this gets bad, water pressure fails to move debris, leading to stagnation,” he added.
Civic indifference
Residents of Trimurti and Avishkaar societies in Dahisar claimed that civic authorities turned a deaf ear to repeated pleas to remove a tree that had collapsed. An Anand Nagar resident, Rajesh Pandya, claimed he had been calling the BMC for over a month to get a nearby stormwater drain cleaned. “Though they started cleaning the nullah on one of the service roads, dug-up mud that was left by the roadside has accumulated in the drain, choking it again.
An official from R North ward’s maintenance department said, “We have started cleaning all nullahs, and are aiming to finish the work by May 31. Around 14 pumps have been installed in all of the ward’s areas that see major waterlogging.” Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar told mid-day that desilting would be completed on time. “Jogeshwari received around 60 mm of rain [on May 20]. We will identify the local causes of waterlogging and will work to solve the problem,” he added.
