Mumbai: BMC mulling over holding tank solution for Andheri subway

The Andheri subway, which is prone to flooding, on Friday

Andheri subway was closed for the ninth time this month on Friday due to waterlogging, which has been occurring even amid moderate rainfall. Though the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) uses the holding tank method to keep the Milan subway in Santacruz and Hindmata in Parel relatively flood-free, the high cost and insufficient results have been preventing the civic body from implementing the same plan at Andheri.

The corporation has somewhat succeeded in tackling waterlogging at Hindmata, Gandhi Market at King's Circle and Milan Subway by implementing measures such as improving the drainage network and using water storage tanks and high-capacity pumps. The BMC already initiated two plans to reduce the flow of water into the subway and a plan to set up holding tanks also exists on paper. But officials are sceptical about spending crores on plans that are not 100 per cent fruitful.

Last monsoon, the Andheri subway was closed to traffic 21 times. "The subway is saucer-shaped and Mogra nullah flows close to it. There are encroachments on both sides of nullah and it cannot be widened. "The drain size is not sufficient to carry the flow of water. Besides, there is a steep slope so water accumulates quickly even if there is rain at the far east side of Andheri. We close the subway after the water level reaches one foot to avoid any untoward incidents," said a civic official.

Ongoing work

The BMC has already started drainage line widening work worth Rs 100 crore at Andheri West, which will take another three years to complete. The civic body will lay another drainage line parallel to Mogra nullah worth around Rs 250 crore. But even after implementing these solutions, the issue of the subway may not be resolved. The BMC is also thinking of creating a holding pond just like Hindmata and the Milan subway.

The civic body constructed a holding pond with a capacity of 2.5 crore litres at Milan subway and the cost of the project is R50 crore. The BMC constructed tanks at Hindmata, one at Pramod Mahajan Kala Park in Dadar West and two tanks at St Xavier's Ground in Parel. The combined capacity of the three tanks is 4.5 crore litres with a project cost of R195 crore. "Though both projects helped to ensure water recedes faster than usual, the cost involved in the projects is high. And even after creating a holding pond, the subway may not be completely flood-free. So the BMC is still not decided over whether to proceed with the holding tank solution," said Abhijeet Bangar, additional municipal commissioner.

21
No. of times Andheri subway was closed last monsoon