Mumbai civic body to fix 77 chronic waterlogging spots from October

Work orders for 16 spots have already been given while 61 are in the tendering process

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will start fixing 77 of the 105 waterlogging spots it identified in the city from October, in an effort to minimise flooding in those areas.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road at King’s Circle in July.(HT Photo)

The BMC is expected to undertake 6,208 repair works at these 77 spots across the city and it includes work categories such as storm drain augmentation, construction of drains, the addition of floodgates, remodelling of drains, and upgrading culverts.

According to civic officials, work orders for 16 spots have already been given while 61 are in the tendering process.

Out of the 105 flooding spots, 55 are in the island city (the highest), followed by 33 in the eastern suburbs and 17 in the western suburbs.

BMC chief Ajoy Mehta in his monthly meeting asked the Storm Water Drain (SWD) department to complete the tendering process by September and start work by October this year.

The BMC had drafted a list of 225 chronic flooding spots after the August 29 deluge last year and introduced remedial measures for same.

The chronic flooding spots are the areas where flood water takes a long time to recede.

“Instead of a reduction in the number of waterlogging spots over the years, the number is increasing even after the scores of work undertaken by various authorities. First and foremost, BMC needs a target-oriented completion of work and secondly a common definition of what exactly qualifies as a flooding spot” said Nikhil Desai, a city-based citizen activist.

Before this year’s monsoon, the civic body finished work at 120 spots. Some areas where work was completed included Masjid Bunder — where floodgates were fixed — Deonar Municipal Colony and Devkabai Chawl in Ghatkopar, where drain augmentation was undertaken, and at Tardeo market, where additional stormwater drains were laid.

On August 29 last year, the city was brought to a standstill as all modes of transport were disrupted with several areas in the city being waterlogged for many hours.

Following the deluge, the waterlogging spots in the city jumped from 66 in 2016 to 225 the year later. These spots were identified by seven deputy municipal commissioners, 24 ward officers in coordination with railways and traffic police.