Among areas inundated junction where BMC spent Rs 130 crore for pumping station

The civic officials said that dewatering pumps were fully functional during the rainfall. They said an inquiry will be carried out to identify the cause behind the waterlogging despite the contingency measures.

The officials added that since such a huge quantity of rainfall occurred within such a short period, there was traffic inconvenience for more than an hour but things became gradually normal after 1 pm.

For Andheri, Khar and Poisar subways, which were shut due to heavy showers, the BMC officials said that water gushes inside them whenever there is rain, as they are located at saucer-shaped spots.

Besides Hindmata Junction, other areas that were most affected by waterlogging include Parel, Gandhi market, Dadar, Chembur, Khar, Andheri and Borivali.

Senior civic officials said that unlike the May 27 rain, when the entire Mumbai city recorded flash flooding, all the dewatering pumps that were installed in the city and suburbs remained operational on Monday, irrespective of which several pockets in Mumbai still went under water.

At Hindmata, the BMC had set up a mini pumping station four years ago comprising seven pumps having a capacity to channel 3,000 cubic meters of water every hour.

Within a few hundred meters from the pumping station the civic authorities had set up a holding pond where the accumulated rain water is being stored temporarily during the events of hightide and waterlogging before they are discharged into the natural water body.

The six meter deep tank has a capacity to hold 3 lakh liters of water.

On May 27, when the first spell of monsoon rains made landfall in Mumbai, the Hindmata Junction got inundated for the first time since its upgradation in 2021.

The civic officials had attributed this to the dewatering pumps being non-functional that day. However on Monday all the pumps remained operational.

“At Hindmata, all the seven dewatering pumps were fully functional when the rainfall peaked, even by 2 pm the holding tank at Pramod Mahajan grounds reached its full capacity. This clearly shows that all the contingency measures were in place and yet the waterlogging happened. Therefore, I will carry out an inquiry to identify the cause,” Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) told The Indian Express.

At central Mumbai’s Gandhi Market, where the BMC had spent Rs 40 crore to set up a sump pit to catch the incoming rainwater four years back, the water level rose up to a height of one foot.

Due to this, traffic movement was heavily interrupted.

“Unlike Hindmata, Gandhi Market doesn’t have a holding pond. There’s a sump pit from where water is being carried through a drainage network. To prevent these kinds of situations in the long run, we have proposed an idea of widening the drainage network and that project will be taken up soon,” said an official.

According to the civic body’s data, between 6 am and 2 pm, the maximum rainfall recorded in Mumbai’s island city and eastern suburbs stood at 170 mm each at Dadar and Chembur, while at the western suburbs the maximum rainfall of 150 mm was recorded at Versova in Andheri (west).

“On Monday, Mumbai recorded an average of 170 mm rainfall between 6 am and 2 pm. We also had a high tide of 3.8 meters. Since such a heavy quantum of rainfall occurred within such a short period the systems in place had to struggle a bit and there was traffic inconvenience for more than an hour. However after 1 pm things became gradually normal,” Bangar said.

Civic officials said that the level of high tide was 3.8 meters— which was much less than the high tide levels of 4.8 meters recorded during the May 27 rains.

The railway tracks were also inundated, with officials stating that water level rose up to 6 meters at the tracks in Dadar, Matunga areas which had contributed to delayed train movement.

Civic officials said that while railway movement remained non-disrupted, it was due to joint factors like heavy rainfall and high tide the tracks got partially submerged.