Mumbai: BMC bent on ensuring no waterlogging at Milan subway

Milan Subway, located between Vile Parle and Santacruz, lies in a low-lying area. File pic/Shadab Khan

After the construction of a water storage tank near Milan Subway at a cost of Rs 47 crore, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now making an additional water channel and deploying two pumps to ensure water accumulated at the location is diverted into the tank.

Milan Subway, which is located between Vile Parle and Santacruz, lies in a low-lying area and is almost always flooded during the monsoon. The stormwater department (SWD) of the BMC constructed the underground water storage tank under a park adjacent to the subway to provide some relief. The capacity of the tank is around 3 crore litres. "Two pumps and a water channel will be used to fill this tank with accumulated water while an additional pump will be used to pump water out of the tank during low tide. "Hence, it will be possible to provide relief to citizens by storing water in the tank for up to six hours," said a BMC official.

At present, the tank fills up to 85 per cent of its capacity due to gravity. To utilise the additional 15 per cent capacity, the SWD will install the 900 mm diameter water channel and the two 3,000 cubic meters per hour capacity pumps. The additional pump to empty the tank will also be made available soon, said an official.

"The stored water will be pumped out and released into the Irla nullah. This arrangement will provide relief to low-lying areas which are prone to waterlogging in case of heavy rain," said Vibhas Achrekar, chief engineer, SWD.

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Cost escalates over time

The cost to keep Milan Subway - one of the city's chronic flooding spots - free of waterlogging went up by at least 50 per cent. A BMC official attributed the increase to expenses linked to anchoring and piling work, which couldn't be foreseen before the work was started.

The BMC standing committee had approved an amount of R33 crore for all the work including construction of the tank and slab, water drain, etc. in the financial year 2021-22. However, the civic body floated another tender of R15.97 crore for the remaining flood redressal work at Milan Subway in October 2022.

The earlier estimation was based on a rough calculation but the cost has gone up since. "We encountered a rock while digging a pit and so the anchoring and piling work has increased," said a BMC official.