On day one, as the southwest monsoon arrived in the maximum city, BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Chief Iqbal Singh Chahal and Mayor Kishori Pednekar conducted a joint inspection of the chronic water logging spot - Hindmata. Chahal emphasised that the situation in Hindmata is better than the previous years.
Justifying his claim, he said, "That despite incessant rainfall, traffic was not disrupted. Though water collected and took time to recede from the low lying areas of Hindmata, the ramps built for the area this year brought much relief to the congestion."
He added, "The project to build underground tanks and pipelines below Pramod Mahajan Udyan at Dadar (West) and St Xavier Ground at Parel to store excess rainwater and prevent flooding at Hindmata, which has been one of the worst affected areas in Mumbai, is on. The civic body has already begun constructing tanks and laying stormwater drains to channel rainwater to these tanks. BMC needs to lay a 1,600-mm diameter drain pipe covering a distance of 650 meters from Hindmata to Pramod Mahajan Park. The permission was obtained on May 31, 2021, to carry the underground channels connecting these underground tanks through the Tata Mill area. It is now accelerating the work of laying underground aqueducts. Once it is completed, Hindmata will be relieved of the waterlogging problem."
Both the mayor and the BMC chief pointed out that this is the first time in 15 years that vehicular movement in Hindmata has not been hampered due to waterlogging and the reason is the timely and planned measures taken by BMC, the commissioner said.
Chahal further said that the Andheri subway has already been closed to traffic for three months. So there is no question of waterlogging affecting transportation. "Problems of waterlogging are being resolved across the city by various measures and methods suitable for the respective areas, including the Sion railway station, by taking action and taking to the railway administration.
After this joint inspection, Pednekar visited Boundary Nallah in Mulund, Usha Nagar Nala in Bhandup (East) and other places in the eastern and western suburbs to inspect the situation there. She also gave necessary instructions to the officials of the local ward officers.
