As Mumbai was reeling from the first wave of the coronavirus last year, the city also had to deal with excessive flooding. As a result, some regions that were never known to be flood-prone were impacted in 2020. Moreover, some gated housing communities in South Mumbai were also flooded.
Due to the surge in construction activities over the past few years, new flooding spots have now started to emerge. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) says that it has to first deal with 139 flooding spots prior to this year’s monsoon season. Around 24 new flooding spots have been identified since the last monsoon.
Since 2015, the BMC’s 24 ward officers annually create a list of regions prone to flooding and chart out a plan to make budget allocations for their repairs. As per the civic body’s criteria, any region that witnesses a closure of vehicular or pedestrian traffic after 50-60mm of rainfall is deemed a flooding spot.
In addition to temporary measures like clearing out debris and dewatering the pumps in vulnerable regions, ward officers are also tasked with preparing long-term measures in coordination with agencies like the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), and the Railways.
Among the remedial measures used by officials in such zones are draining nearby channels, upping the region’s water absorption rate, and adding floodgates. As per data provided by the civic body, 132 new flooding spots have been identified since 2019.
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A total of 405 flooding spots have been identified by the civic body for this year’s monsoon. However, only 386 such spots existed last year, and 273 spots the year prior.
Some activists say that construction on Coastal Road and various Metro projects are contributing to the rise in flooding spots across the city. However, authorities have blamed extreme weather events.
“There is an increase in the number of flooding spots in the city. In addition to development works including road, water pipeline, metro, in last two years the city has witnessed unprecedented excessive rain in a short period. This has led to emergence of new flooding spots,” Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), P Velrasu said.
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Civic officials have said that 171 flooding spots have been fixed while 125 are reportedly in the process of being repaired before this year’s monsoon. This includes Dadar’s Hindmata and Gandhi Market in Sion. The BMC will reportedly partner with other agencies for at least nine new flooding spots, while work on eight other sites is currently being planned.
The MMRDA confirmed that it will assist the civic body in taking measures to fix flood-prone areas. Joint Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, Dr Bapu Gopinathrao Pawar said, “While long-term measures are planned and implemented by the BMC, we will assure that no waterlogging is caused by construction work undertaken by the MMRDA.”
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