BMC’s Rs 2,000 crore project to prevent Mithi river from swelling up during monsoon

“Whenever there will be heavy rains or there is the forecast of a high tide, these gates could be lowered, which will prevent the sea water from entering into the rivers and prevent it from swelling and overflowing. At the same time, the gates will also prevent the water accumulated in the river and nullahs from flowing out and we can pump out the excessive water easily through dewatering pumps,” said Velrasu.

He also maintained that this project will solve the flooding woes of central Mumbai and eastern suburbs, and will end the annual relocation of slum dwellers of Kurla and Ghatkopar.

A survey has been conducted to identify several inlets, through which water flows into the river, where the floodgates will be installed. “The gates will operate vertically, which means lesser space will be required to construct them. We aim to float tenders for this project by October this year and the project will take three months to complete,” he said.

The Mithi river flows through the low-lying areas of eastern and western suburbs and is infamous for being the primary cause behind flooding during the monsoon season every year.

The 17-kilometre-long river originates from the overflows of Vihar and Powai lakes and flows downstream towards the Mahim Creek and finally merges into the Arabian Sea. After a spell of heavy rains during the monsoon, the river swells up significantly causing waterlogging in the low-lying areas of Sion, Chunabhatti, Kurla and Ghatkopar. Thus, as a precautionary measure, the authorities provide temporary accommodation to the residents of Kurla and Ghatkopar’s slums.

In 2021, the civic body installed two floodgates at the junction near the Mumbai International Airport from where the Mithi river flows. This came after airline operations were stalled during monsoon due to water entering the runway. The BMC had spent Rs 1.5 crore for setting up and maintenance of these floodgates.

The civic body had initially conceptualised the idea of setting up the flood gates at Mithi river back in 2022 and civic sources had stated that international firms from Germany, South Korea and Japan had shown interest in setting up these gates back then. However, officials had said that the contractor for constructing these gates will be finalised only after the tenders are floated.