Week after heavy rains, BMC and Railway identify spots that led to flash flooding

Between 8.30 pm and 11.30 pm on September 25, Mumbai recorded over 100 mm of rain, which eventually led to stoppage of railway movement from the tracks.

All these locations are in close proximity to the railway tracks and include a network of storm water drains (SWD) and micro tunnels for flow of water.

According to civic officials, the locations that have been identified at central line include the railway yard at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), and storm water drains identified at Bhandup station, Vidyavihar stations and connecting areas between Sion and Matunga and Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg. Meanwhile, at the harbour line, the locations identified include railway tracks between Sewri and Wadala and Kurla and Mankhurd.

The officials said the primary cause of waterlogging in these spots was because of the drainage network getting clogged.

Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects) said on Monday that the BMC and Railways have jointly taken a call to augment the existing drainage lines to ensure smooth flow of water.

“The existing drainage networks that run from below the tracks need to be widened. Since the diameter of the drains are not very wide, a choke-point was created following heavy rains that eventually led to the tracks getting submerged underneath the water,” Bangar said on Monday.

He said many of these drainage widening projects that require augmentation have already been taken up for implementation. However, in some cases the work couldn’t begin considering there are issues of relocating project affected parties (PAP).

In the Harbour Line, slum areas have encroached into the railway tracks, due to which all the people living there dump their daily waste in the drainages which had eventually choked the water flow leading to the railway tracks getting inundated,” Bangar said.

On Monday, a meeting was carried out between railway officials and BMC administration. Bangar said that following the meeting, a decision was taken on covering the existing drainage networks with protective nets to prevent waste disposal on them.

“We have reached a consensus on starting the pending works at the earliest and the work on augmentation of the drainage network needs to be started at the earliest. Both the agencies will continue to ensure these works are completed before monsoon,” Bangar said.