Speak up Mumbai: Has BMC owned up to its failure to control floods?

Citizens are vexed every year due to chronic waterlogging at key areas in Hindmata at Parel. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had reportedly spent a lot of money to repair the ancient drains in the area.

However, a senior BMC official admitted that flooding at Hindmata cannot be obliterated even this year, bringing no respite to the citizens.

Speaking at a standing committee meeting on Friday, he added that people have to "adjust" with the water-logging problem as there is no immediate solution

After the 2005 deluge, a fact finding committee had suggested setting up of eight pumping stations to flush out the extra water under the Brihanmumbai Storm Water Disposal System (BRIMSTOWAD).

Only six out of the eight proposed high capacity pumping stations have been set up in the last thirteen years, bringing negligible change to the flood situation. The BMC claims that they have brought down the water releasing time from one day to few hours and the new drainage that is being laid will improve the situation further, however, there has been no permanent fix to the perennial flooding.

VOICES

The problem of waterlogging does not seem to end in Mumbai as there is very little effort from the BMC towards controlling it. The only outlet of rain water is the drainage system which has limited capacity. Since all high level land s have high rise building and there are open lands for water outlet, the low lying areas will flood.
—Zoru Bathena, Activist from Khar

BMC never accepts its faults. Every year before monsoon they assure Mumbaikars that there won't be any problem. But not a single monsoon goes without any problem. The roads continue to remain in pathetic conditions. To add to it, metro work has damaged roads further. The authorities should rather take extra care during monsoon this year.
—Saili S, Borivali

I have shifted to Mumbai only a couple of months back. But I have been reading and hearing the political speeches of corporators who claim that Mumbai will not flood this monsoon. But, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation administration have accepted that although infrastructural work is going on to avoid flooding at certain locations, it will take some years to see the results. It may be the city's topograpgy or poor cleaning but I have prepared myself to face waterlogging in Mumbai this monsoon.
—Adarsh Kumar, Goregaon

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has once again failed to address the issue of chronic flooding and waterlogging in Mumbai. Despite the specific locations being known, no corrective actions have been taken through the years to ensure safety, especially in areas prone to waterlogging during the heavy downpours. BMC's consistent negligence and unpreparedness has been causing loss of life and property for Mumbaikars.
—Manallii Ajmera, Borivali.

Despite being the richest municipal corporation in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has shamelessly accepted their failure in administration and shown their apathy towards the citizens of Mumbai yet again. They collect so much taxes from the citizens and still provide the worst services and their claims get washed away every year with the heavy rains.
—Yuvraj Singh Thakur, Andheri

There are close to 225 flood prone areas in the city,including 60 chronic ones that flood annually. BMC has a lot of excuses to justify flooding because most of the areas are congested due to Public Works Department ( PWD) , Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the railway authorities etc. This year the BMC claims to have hired close to 279 pumps excluding 19 pumps that are civic - owned .
—Himanshi Sen, Mahim

Admitting that there will be flooding has no meaning. Officials draw huge salaries. If they cannot do the job, they should quit. What is so big that that they are not able to do? Admitting is not going to help the citizens. Dadar Terminus gets flooded because culverts are optimized. Railways does not care. Once they know they can shift blame, they are least bothered. They have decided to blame the metro work this year. Money cannot be problem because there is enough.
—Nikhil Desai, Matunga

The BMC cannot shirk its responsibility of giving us a safe city during monsoons. As a Mumbaikar I pay taxes to the government and keeping the city safe is its responsibility. I know the city is dug up because of infrastructure work and some problems will be understood and are unavoidable but we cannot have an entire city coming to a standstill and such situations should be avoided and BMC should work on it.
—Pooja Desai, Worli

EXPERT SPEAK

It is not rocket science to make a city free from flooding. There are many cities in the world which are much below the sea level and they have efficiently managed waterlogging problems. After spending a huge sum of money over the years, the BMC administration made a shameless statement. Where does all the budget money go? No vision. No plans. Mumbaikars are living with the 100 year old British drainage system.
— Jitendra Gupta, Civic activist

With this attitude, the BMC will not be able to solve the waterlogging problem in the next 100 years. The official's response makes it clear that BMC does not study the root cause of problem. Mumbaikars will adjust with water logging but with a condition— the BMC will have to reduce property taxa and deduct the salary of the concerned civic official if there is waterlogging. Any waterlogging problem can be solved in three years with a proper study of the cause. They just need dedication to do it.
— James John, Activist Agni