Water accumulation in the subway of Seawoods railway station along the Harbour Line of Central has become an annual feature. Thousands of commuters have to wade through the water during heavy rainfall in monsoon. The station premise has been developed recently and it houses a prominent shopping mall.
The major problem is seen on the east side of the station as commuters from Nerul node are forced to wade through water to reach either the railway platform or the mall. At present, there is only one subway to enter the mall from the east side.
Priti Sharma, a resident of sector 19 in Seawoods says that during heavy rainfall, the water level reaches upto the ankle and one cannot reach the platform without drenching shoes. Other commuters share similar views. The station has over 50,000 footfalls and during peak hours, commuters face a lot of problems if water accumulates in the subway.
Corporator raised issue with CIDCO
Bharat Jadhav, a former corporator from Seawoods who has raised this issue several times with CIDCO in the past says that delay in switching on the pump to flush out water is the main reason. “I have been following the issue for a long time. This is a recurring problem,” said Jadhav.
The situation at Khandeshwar station is no different. Water logging in the subways of the station is a common problem during the monsoon. For the past many years, the subway leading to the platform has been submerged in rainwater during heavy rainfall.
Distressed commuters took to social media
Last week, with the subway flooded, commuters had a tough time wading through water. Many commuters complained that the water level rose upto knee level and made it difficult for them to reach the platform. Irked with the problem every year, a number of commuters took to Twitter to complain the poor planning of CIDCO.
“Don’t blame the contractor for the non-functional pump. What about the construction plan of the station,” a commuter tweeted.
A CIDCO official said that housekeeping employees wipe out water continuously if there is a problem with the pump.
