Mumbai rains: High tide and rain flood several areas

Several spots in south Mumbai, including the stretch between Churchgate and Marine Lines railway stations, were waterlogged on Thursday, apparently owing to the ongoing Coastal Road work. Western Railway (WR) and civic officials jointly visited the affected spot to assess the situation.

On the Churchgate-Marine Lines section, waterlogging was witnessed due to the ongoing Coastal Road work. There was slight waterlogging up to the rail level. However, train operations were running smoothly. Due to Coastal Road work, excavated debris is blocking the outfall, which is why outfall culverts are operating at half capacity. All manholes on the west side of the tracks till Marine Drive are overflowing. The site has been visited by the officials concerned. Action is being taken on high priority," a WR spokesperson said.

A heavily waterlogged Maharshi Karve Road, near Churchgate and Marine Lines station, on Thursday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

BMC officials claimed that while going about the Coastal Road construction work, the civic body increased the size of 16 drainage lines by almost two-and-a-half-fold. "The BRIMSTOWAD report had recommended a drainage size keeping in mind 50 mm of rainfall per hour. But this kind of project is meant to last for centuries, so we considered the highest amount of rainfall, which was seen on July 26, 2005, and increased the size of the drains, making them capable of dealing with 93 mm of rainfall per hour. Additionally, all box drains will have floodgates to restrict the flow of seawater into the city during high tide," said a BMC official. The civic body completed the floodgate work at 14 locations before the start of the monsoon, and work at other locations is underway.

The BMC, meanwhile, issued a statement that small rocks that were swept away by powerful waves got stuck in the rainwater outfall of Patan Jain Road. The civic body coordinated with the railway administration and cleared the outfall gate. The gate wasn't choked up due to debris from the Coastal Road project, according to civic officials.

Workers inspect the tracks between Churchgate and Marine Lines stations on Thursday; citizens go about their business amid flooding after water from tracks was pumped onto the road at Marine Lines. Pics/Ashish Raje

The BMC officials further said that the outfall site is beyond the construction boundary of the coastal road. The outfall was cleared with the help of a JCB machine. High-capacity pumps were also used to drain out water.

Water water everywhere

The high tide with a height of 3.32 metres was recorded at 6 pm on Thursday. As it was also raining heavily, many spots were waterlogged for some time such as Cuffe Parade, Matunga, Byculla, Mysore Colony, Trombay, Poisar, SV Road, Andheri, Veera Desai Road, Andheri subway, Malad subway, Kalbadevi, Dahisar, Magathane, Aarey Market and Malviya Road in Vile Parle East.

Water stock on rise

After Tulsi, Vihar and Tansa, three of the seven lakes that supply water to the city, the Modak Sagar will overflow soon. The dam is filled up to 92 per cent of its capacity and water may brim over within the next day or two amid the forecast of heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, the lake stock increased to 62 per cent. Though heavy to very heavy rain has been lashing the city for the past week, lake areas on the border of Thane and Nashik districts received moderate rain. Last year, the stock was 88 per cent on July 27.

60 per cent
Water stock in lakes on Thursday