MUMBAI: Seven years after the 2005 deluge, the BMC
has made little progress in implementation of the fact-finding Chitale
Committee’s recommendations on augmenting pumping stations and
water-holding capacity of drains. Experts told TOI that till all the
eight pumping stations proposed under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Storm
Water Drain (Brimstowad) project are complete, Mumbai will continue to
flood.

Of the eight, only two pumping stations are operational
till date. Work on two others is far from complete and on four others is
yet to even begin.

The two operational pumping stations at Irla
and Haji Ali proved less than adequate when heavy rains started lashing
the city on Monday. Milan
and Andheri subways and some Juhu areas, which fall within the radius
of the Irla pumping station, were flooded with knee-deep waters.

Work on the pumping stations at Love Grove in Worli and Cleaveland
Bunder in Reay Road has started but it only 20% and 25% complete,
respectively. Work on four other pumping stations at the Britannia outfall in Reay Road, Mahul , Guzderband in Khar and Mogra in Andheri is yet to start.

“Pumping stations were proposed to give relief to low-lying areas from
flooding, but the civic body’s sluggish pace of implementing the
committee recommendations is definitely the reason why the city floods
every time it rains more than 50mm,” said a former chief engineer from
the storm water drains department.

The other aspects of the
Brimstowad project are around 60% complete. Only 13 of the 20 works were
completed in the first phase while only two of the 34 works were ready
in the second phase. Due to the BMC’s inability to remove encroachments,
the effectiveness of completed projects is also affected. Delay in
implementation has led to a rise in project cost from Rs 1,200 crore to
Rs 3,500 crore.