Mumbai: The flood guages installed by the BMC at 35 spots during the monsoon have revealed that water logging was recorded on 15 days in the Antop Hill fire station area, with peak levels reaching up to six inches. Civic officials will now analyse water logging at these locations along with the time taken for water levels to recede and accordingly plan measures to tackle flooding in the specific areas more effectively.
The civic body has identified 386 flooding spots across the city and various works have been completed to tackle the issue at these locations. In addition to this, 487 de-watering pumps have also been installed to tackle water logging during the forthcoming monsoons. The flood gauges were put in place as there was no mechanism to understand the level of flooding in the city. In the first phase, 50 gauges with sensors were installed at chronic spots.
The data shows that other than Antop Hill, spots near the Vidyalankar Institute at Wadala, Gurukripa Hotel, Guru Nanak School and Gandhi Market in Sion and Hindmata in Dadar recorded water logging between 4 to 7 days. The peak levels reached up to 14 inches on certain days at Guru Kripa, Sion and 24 inches at Hindmata, Dadar. The water logging was recorded at 20 places while there was no rainfall recorded at other spots. Meanwhile, the devices installed at Bhuleshwar, Null Baazar and below Byculla bridge were stolen.
“Heavy water logging near Antop Hill fire station was recorded due to narrowing of nullah because of an old slum settlement on it. The work of shifting the slum and widening of nullah is underway and this will give relief to the area by the next monsoon. We will study each place that was heavily flooded during the last monsoon and plan measures to prevent water logging,” said an official from storm water drain (SWD) department. The BMC will be installing 50 more guages in May 2023.
Internet-based auto-activated rainwater level detectors with remote reading capability (flood gauge) to provide data on the level of water logging in the area, the time taken for the water to recede and the amount of rainfall in that particular area with time.
Once heavy rains begin and water gets accumulated in that particular area the flood gauges installed there will send alerts after every 15 minutes to the officials concerned on their cell phones and the BMC dashboard.
BMC plans to install flood guages at 300 locations. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs2.32 crore and an Indian company has been appointed to install and maintain the system for three years.
