The Mumbai Suburban District Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday conducted a review of pre-monsoon preparedness in the city. He visited ongoing works of the “Monsoon Holding Tanks” at Pramod Mahajan Udyan, Hind Mata Flyover, and St. Xavier's Ground.
Aaditya, who has been keen on monsoon holding tanks at the key junctions to address the waterlogging during monsoon, in a tweet said, “These large underground holding tanks have a holding capacity of at least 3 hours. They will considerably reduce water-logging during hours of high tide and heavy rainfall. This development would be replicated across Mumbai’s specific areas that frequently get waterlogged during heavy rains.”
“Additionally, the underground tanks would be covered on top with urban landscapes as earlier, rendering them invisible at the surface. The officials at BMC have started scouting for more such potential sites for water-logging prone areas in Mumbai where the existing pumps are challenged by geography and heavy rain,” said Aaditya who was accompanied by Corporator Urmila Panchal, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) additional municipal commissioner P Velarasu, and the engineers of the Hydraulic Engineer Department.
Aaditya’s visit came days after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had directed BMC to complete all pre-monsoon work, like cleaning of drains to avoid outbreak of any contagious disease, amid growing concerns over alarming coronavirus situation. He had also asked the civic body to clear drains and nullahs to ensure no water-logging takes place and that people should be warned against dumping debris on roads and footpaths.
