Open drains, civic apathy keep Wadala bridge under water for days

Heavy rains the past week resulted in the Wadala bridge being inundated for five consecutive days. But that wasn't the only reason. What kept it flooded was communication gap between different departments of the F-north ward office.

Drains choked due to silt and mud being washed in those with broken lids or without any cover at all compounded the problem. There are at least 10 such open drains on the stretch.

Residents claimed that for five days no official bothered to figure out the exact cause of the flooding. Only after pressure from civic activists, officials hit the ground and removed the silt and flushed the drains. However, as the rains continued unabated, more silt and mud going into the drains resulted in the situation not getting resolved.

Pointing out the several other ways how civic officials goofed up, a civic activist said a huge tree had fallen a few days ago and its remnants and debris was left lying as is. Also, the construction material from work on beautification of footpath and road median was also seen kept in the open on the stretch. This too clogged the 30-foot-deep open drains.

A civic official said they used jetting suction machines to pull out silt and flush the drains for smooth flow of floodwater, but due to unavailability of covers, nothing much could be done.

Civic activist and F-north coordinator of AGNI Nikhil Desai said, "I had alerted the ward two months ago, but no action was taken even after repeated follow-ups. "How long does it take to procure drain covers? There isn't seriousness towards addressing the issue then and there, which makes it worse," he added.

Desai was appalled by the fact that the silt could not be lifted and kept flowing back in the drains just because the maintenance department of the ward had not given appropriate instructions to the solid waste management department.

A civic official confirmed and said that written instructions are necessary as auditors demand the same while approving the bill of man and machinery used for removal of debris. "We will need a JCB, dumpers and labour for this work. Who will sanction this without any formal note?" questioned the official.