Mumbai: BMC & Central Railway will investigate water logging on tracks

Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi, Dr Amit Saini, other BMC officials, and officials from various authorities were present during the meeting

To identify the causes of the waterlogging on the railway tracks, a team from the BMC and Central Railway will visit the affected spots. On Monday, waterlogging was recorded at Bhandup, Kurla, and Chunabhatti, which caused the railway network to halt in the morning. On Thursday, the BMC held a mid-month District Disaster Management Authority meeting at its headquarters. Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi, Dr Amit Saini, other BMC officials, and officials from various authorities were present during the meeting.

While reviewing the meeting, Joshi said that during the heavy rains on Monday, at midnight in the areas of Chunabhatti, Sion, Bhandup, and Kurla, it was observed that rainwater was draining slowly. After that, water was drained more quickly using machinery. "For future planning, measures should be implemented to ensure that water drains more rapidly," Joshi added.

Commuters on railway tracks between Kurla and Sion due to heavy rain on Monday. File Pic/Atul Kamble

An officer present at the meeting said, "We mainly discussed traffic disturbances on public transport. Central Railway's main and Harbour Lines were disturbed due to waterlogging at three main places. The main line was disturbed due to waterlogging at Bhandup and Kurla, and the Harbour Line was disturbed due to waterlogging at Chunabhatti. BMC has suggested that the railway increase the capacity of the dewatering pumps where waterlogging occurred on Monday in railway lines." The official added, "We have also decided to conduct a joint visit with the railway officers."

During the meeting, railway officials also said that a few housing societies are discharging rainwater into the railway nullahs. BMC officials said, "We have decided to visit the spots where such situations have occurred. We will understand the issues of the societies and then try to tackle the local issues," the official added.

According to the data, more than 100 spots were waterlogged on Monday. "There has been no change in the flooding spots. We received more than 8,000 calls in the disaster control room on Sunday and Monday. We have also identified the places where BEST bus traffic has been diverted. 46 out of the 56 hotlines used for communication during the disaster are not working. We had a meeting with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited regarding the issue. They assured us that all hotlines will start soon," the official said. Civic officials also claimed that it is not hampering the work as we have alternative systems like mobile phones and walkie-talkies.

8,000
Approx calls BMC received on Sunday, Monday