BMC spots 221 flooding spots across Mumbai

With the monsoon around the corner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is gearing up to tackle deluge-like conditions in Mumbai and has identified 221 spots in the city prone to water-logging and flooding.

The maximum spots in the list are in the suburban areas, followed by a few spots in south Mumbai wards.

The areas earmarked as flood-prone include Hindmata, Sion, the Khar, Milan and Dahisar subways, Mumbai Central and several parts of the western and central suburban regions. Wards H-East, K-West and M-East have 14 spots each, followed by E, F-North, M-West, S and T wards that have 12 prone areas.

"De-watering pumps have been installed across each marked ward. These will be activated when water starts pooling causing an inconvenience to vehicular or pedestrian traffic," said chief engineer (storm water drain) Laxman Vhatkar.

Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, too, has asked civic staff to be present at all chronic flooding spots across the city. The civic chief has instructed all the assistant commissioners to keep two de-watering pumps reserved for emergencies in every ward.

The BMC has also identified 282 landslide-prone spots, with a mammoth 161 spots falling in S ward itself. Apart from this, a total of 73 vulnerable settlements — 35 in south Mumbai, 17 in the eastern suburbs and 21 in the western suburban region — are prone to damage during the monsoon.

The corporation has also slapped notices on more than 600 private buildings that fall in the most-dangerous category and 11 cessed structures.

"The backup disaster management unit has also been readied in south Mumbai. This centre — City Institute of Disaster Management (CIDM) — will not only act as a secondary command centre, but will also impart practical and theoretical training to volunteers," said a senior BMC official.

In 2014, the BMC had identified 214 flooding spots in the city, which increased to 224 in 2015. Also, the corporation had suspended 14 civic officials after finding them responsible for the massive flooding in the city in June, 2015.