Mumbai’s Eastern Express Highway, T Junction to get respite from waterlogging as BMC plans pumping station with underground tank

According to civic officials, the new pumping station will be constructed near the cross-subway at Mankhurd. The station will have three pumps with a capacity to pump out 3,000 cubic metres of water in an hour. The 25×15 feet underground tank will be able to hold around 1-2 lakh litres of water.

The official said that areas like Maharashtra Nagar and the T junction would get a much-needed respite. Once the pumping station gets operational, waterlogging will not affect vehicular movement on the Sion-Panvel highway during monsoons, the official added.

“During rain, vehicular movement becomes severely affected on the highway due to waterlogging, and Mankhurd becomes a chokepoint. Once the pumping station becomes operational, this problem will be addressed to a large extent,” the official said.

According to BMC officials, the cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 15 crore, and the construction will take six months, with the facility expected to be ready before the next monsoon.

This will be the second such pumping station in Mumbai. In 2021, civic authorities sanctioned a similar project in the Parel area, where a pumping station was built at the Hindmata junction and a holding tank underneath the St Xavier’s College grounds. Since the facility became operational, waterlogging has significantly reduced in the low-lying areas of Gandhi Market and Hindmata.