Mumbai residents unsure about MMRDA claim of no flooding due to Metro work

While Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has claimed that there would be no flooding due to Metro construction, citizens say this claim shall be established only after the monsoons kick in. Their skepticism arises from last year's experience, when several stretches of Link Road was flooded allegedly due to the barricades put up for Metro work, which had blocked drainage outlets.

Harish Pandey, a resident of Dahisar, said, "Last year, Anand Nagar in Dahisar was flooded due to Metro barricades as the outlets were blocked. This year, however, Metro work has seen considerable progress and we do not see too many barricades, although multiple pillars have been built. Everything will be clear once it starts raining."

Pandey has claimed that due to Metro work, the flow of Dahisar river near Link Road gets blocked. "This year, the outlets are not blocked per say, but we fear if desilting and cleaning of nullahs is not done properly, water flow will be affected," he added.

Another Link Road resident, Viraj Mamania, said, "A blame game is on between several agencies for flooding during monsoons. However, our area has been flooding for long, way before Metro work started. Hence, it does not matters for us whether Metro work is going on or not."

However, MMRDA claims that desilting and cleaning of nullahs on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) has been completed and at Western Express Highway (WEH) around 70 per cent of desilting work is complete.

Dilip Kawathkar, spokesperson, MMRDA, said, "There is no scope of flooding due to Metro works and we have ensured that everything is in place so that citizens do not face any inconvenience during monsoons due to Metro construction work."

The MMRDA is currently executing construction work on Metro corridors on Link Road and Western Express Highway, namely Dahisar DN Nagar Metro-2A corridor and Dahisar East- Andheri East Metro-7 corridor. Meanwhile, work on two Metro corridors on Linking Road, LBS Marg and Eastern Express Highway is expected to pick up pace after monsoons.