Mumbai: A political row broke out after waterlogging was seen at the Andheri Subway after a brief spell of rain disrupted traffic in Mumbai on June 3. BJP MLA Ameet Satam criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray's proposal of rainwater holding tanks, saying the flooding problem at Andheri Subway is far more severe than at Hindmata or Milan Subway.
His response came after the UBT leader took to his official handle on X and spoke on the success of rainwater holding tanks at Hindmata-Gandhi Market and Milan Subway, projects which were undertaken during the party's tenure. He said the 'sponge city' concept had helped make those areas flood-free and accused the BJP-led BMC of failing to implement similar projects.
Coming back to Satam's response, he explained that the issue at the Andheri subway is that the quantum of water flowing into it is extremely high, which leads to severe flooding during heavy rainfall, adding that the situation cannot be compared to the Milan subway or Hindmata. He further added, "Relying only on holding ponds will not solve the problem."
Satam said a BMC had proposed a Rs 500 crore plan involving three holding ponds and a drain to divert water to the Bhardawadi culvert, however, he added that too would reduce flooding by only 50 per cent.
Taking a jibe at the sponge city concept of the Thackeray govt, Satam slammed and said, "You really made Mumbai a 'sponge city' by absorbing all public money."
Further responding to Thackeray's remarks, Satam criticised and questioned what the previous Sena-led BMC administration had done to solve the issue between 1997 and 2022, when the subway continued to face flooding.
Opposition Hits Out At BMC
Opposition in Mumbai has slammed the BMC and questioned the monsoon preparedness after brief pre-monsoon showers flooded the Andheri Subway. This comes at a time when the BMC has been undertaking several monsoon preparedness measures, including desilting and cleaning major nullahs, clearing garbage, and carrying out road concretisation works.
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